This paper introduces a holistic measurement system, the Transit Heat Exposure Index (THEI), to gauge high-fidelity heat exposure for transit riders. The method combines microclimate simulations using meteorological and LIDAR data and realistic transit network routing to consider both the heat exposure intensity and exposure time. The proposed method allows one to estimate heat exposure at the network link level during walking along street links and waiting at bus stops.
Key words: Extreme heat, transit, microclimate, heat exposure
Liu, L., Li, X., Yan, X., Pereira, R. Measuring Exposure to Extreme Heat in Public Transit Systems. Download Preprint.
With increased frequency and intensity due to climate change, wildfires have become a growing global concern. This study proposes a new methodology to analyze human behavior during wildfires by leveraging a large-scale GPS dataset. This methodology includes a home-location inference algorithm and an evacuation-behavior inference algorithm, to systematically identify different groups of wildfire evacuees (i.e., self-evacuee, shadow evacuee, evacuee under warning, and ordered evacuee).
Key words: wildfire, GPS data, evacuation, human behavior
Zhao, X., Xu, Y., Lovreglio, R., Kuligowski, E., Nilsson, D., Cova, T., Wu, A., Yan, X., Cao, Z. Estimating wildfire evacuation decision and departure timing using large-scale GPS data. [Download Preprint]. Transportation research part D: transport and environment, 107, 103277.