Grant: Alliance Grants

The goal of the proposed international collaboration is to develop a multi-modal integrated mobility service evaluation platform. This collaboration research is driven by Dr. H.C. Park's expertise and leadership at Myongji University at South Korea, evidenced by his prestigious National Research Foundation grant on this subject matter. Dr. Park's team will work closely with York University on implementing Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) strategies in major cities, including the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Canada. Especially, York University's research team will refine MaaS strategies with a strong focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), addressing the distinct challenges of MaaS in the Canadian context. Specific objectives include: 1) Collecting selected multi-modal mobility data (e.g., car sharing, bicycles, taxis) in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario; 2) Developing demand estimation models for the GTA's multi-modal mobility services; 3) Developing optimal fare estimation techniques for the GTA's multi-modal mobility services. The developed multi-modal mobility evaluation platform will serve as an advanced tool for designing personal mobility stations and optimizing new station locations. This will assist municipal planners in creating sustainable and resilient smart cities using data-driven tools. MaaS aims to address critical transportation challenges, particularly the First-Mile Last-Mile problem, facilitating meaningful connections to public stations via affordable transportation modes like bicycles and scooters. Benefits to Canada include reduced vehicle miles, increased transit ridership, and environmentally friendly, affordable alternatives to personal car use. Notice that MaaS could also produce significant monetary benefits, such as annual savings of $12.6 billion in vehicle operational costs, $206 million from reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and $3.2 billion from fewer traffic collisions, according to the Canadian Urban Transit Association. The project's strong emphasis on EDI ensures that the benefits of MaaS will be accessible and equitable for all segments of the population.