My new position at the Institute of Transport Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR)!

Excited to announce my new position as Head of the (new) research group on ‘Automated driving and new mobility concepts’ at the Institute of Transport Research, German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin!

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Stay local or go regional? Urban form effects on vehicle use at different spatial scales: A theoretical concept and its application to the San Francisco Bay Area

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Abstract: This paper explores the respective roles of local and regional characteristics of urban form on vehicle travel. We hypothesize that the effects of urban form on vehicle use at the local and regional levels are complementary, and we introduce the concept of local and regional action spaces, which are defined based on the accessibility of alternative means of transport within an acceptable travel time, to test this hypothesis. Multilevel and ordered logit models are developed for the San Francisco Bay Area to estimate the effects of urban form and socioeconomic characteristics on vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and vehicle trip frequency (for work, shopping, and social/recreational purposes). We find that the two urban scale characteristics exert complementary effects on VKT. However, because people in the San Francisco Bay Area display significantly lower VKT in the local than in the regional action space, we conclude that regional-scale inter-ventions woul
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Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA

Abstract: This paper explores the extent to which people identify an acceptable travel time for each trip they want to make and investigates the primary characteristics of this behavioural threshold. We assume that an acceptable travel time is defined through utilitarian processes that are related to cognitive and affective evaluations of travel that develop throughout a person’s lifetime. We apply a mixed methods approach to explore our hypothesis, based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with a stratified, according to commuting mode, random sample of 20 individuals living in Berkeley, CA. Our results support the validity of the acceptable travel time concept and offer (a) initial evidence on its variation to the travel mode and sociodemographic characteristics and (b) insights into people’s perceptions, attitudes, feelings and experiences about their travel. Thus, our results can contribute to a better understanding of individuals’ travel decisions and valuation
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Implications of vehicle automation for accessibility and social inclusion of people on low income, people with physical and sensory disabilities, and older people

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Vehicle automation and vehicle sharing are frequently presented as key factors towards a more inclusive transport system.  In our new book chapter, we argue that we should not take this statement for granted. We suggest that the requirements for digital access and online payment for those services, vehicle custom-design, operating complexities, and uncertainties, insecurity and distrust in adoption of new vehicle technologies could compromise possible accessibility gains and thus negatively influence social inclusion levels of people on low income, people with physical and sensory disabilities, and older people.  Book chapter available here .  Many thanks for the nice collaboration to my co-author Bert Van Wee and the editors of the book volume “Demand for Emerging Transportation Systems. Modeling Adoption, Satisfaction and Mobility Patterns” Constantinos Antoniou, Dimitrios Efthymiou, Emmanouil Chaniotakis  Abstract  We analyze the implications of vehicle
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