Fellowship for Richard Mucci: Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program Graduate Fellowship

The topic I have chosen bridges from masters thesis, by looking not only at the effects TNCs have on San Francisco transit ridership, but branching off into other cities as well. Cities such as a sprawling city, Phoenix, contrasting the density of San Francisco. Louisville, Pittsburgh, and many others will be potential candidates as well. A university just outside of San Francisco will be supplying the necessary data for this analysis. They have scraped the Uber and Lyft Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to gather a unique data set on the mode in many cities. The unique data set will be used to quantify the effects of TNCs on transit ridership and congestion within cities of various sizes and densities. TNCs for the most part operate freely due to the lack of data and research on the subject. Understanding their effects helps to maximize accessibility and mobility across all modes. The results will most likely be policy implications, such as Uber/Lyft lots, redefining the bus systems, incentivizing Uber/Lyft users away from congested areas, etc. The final deliverable of the research will be a tool that predicts TNC growth. My masters research used a direct ridership model to understand what factors influence transit ridership. A similar method will be used for TNCs, Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZs) will be used instead of bus and rail stops. The model can be used to give first-cut estimates of transit ridership, and will be used to give planners an idea of TNC use within their city. Multiple cities will be analyzed to understand if cities of different densities and sizes grow at different rates, or even level off entirely. I hope to provide information that helps my states DOT push the best projects forward and to enact productive policies. The results from the various cities will be compared to minimize any regionally specific findings and to understand whether or not TNCs effect a city with a population of few hundred thousand differently than a city with a few million. KYTC also showed interest in the emerging technology Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). A TNC rider's experience is similar to AV rider, and if we narrow the possible AV future scenarios down to the ones that include fleets of AVs driving around, controlled by a third-party routing technology. Then there seems to be a potential bridge between the two technologies, but for the sake of harmony the scope of this research will focus on TNC growth and their effects on cities. TNCs do effect cities to some extent, understanding how and to what magnitude will help to ensure that transportation engineers are doing everything they can for the people of their cities and states.