We focus on transport engineering to solve systematic and user-centric infrastructure planning and operation optimizations instead of vehicles or vehicular components. We target transport infrastructure and system-level solutions.
The landscape of transport systems (both passenger and freight) is undergoing a significant transformation, catalysed by advancements in vehicles, infrastructure, big data, and communications. This evolution is particularly pertinent in an era where climate change looms large, with transport playing an important role in emissions and energy consumption. Emerging technologies such as electrification, digitalization, shared mobility, and connected automation emerge as pivotal in enhancing the sustainability, safety, and efficiency of future transport systems.
Our research area focuses on advancing infrastructure, operation and management of emerging transport systems leveraging new technologies to improve sustainability, efficiency, safety and equity of future mobility systems at different scales (urban, regional and country levels). We focus on transport engineering to solve systematic and user-centric infrastructure planning and operation optimizations instead of vehicles or vehicular components. We target transport infrastructure and system-level solutions.
Our research
The research area has been working on emerging research topics including transport electrification, shared mobility and connected automated transport, aiming to promote more sustainable, safer, more efficient, and equitable mobility for various users. The research area emphasizes electrification, digitalization, AI and big data for infrastructure-related and systematic research to align the research area better with the vision and theme of ACE.
Specific research challenges in focus include:
- How to plan and optimize charging infrastructure, service, operation, and management of electric transport systems to prepare for the transition to large-scale transport electrification considering complex interactions with other systems?
- How to improve the infrastructure, operation, service, and management of multimodal transport systems with shared economics to be more efficient, sustainable, and equitable by leveraging integrative planning, optimization and digitalization?
- How to leverage emerging new technologies (connected and automated vehicles, on-demand transport, big data and AI) for better traffic and system management to improve the efficiency and safety of various transport systems?
- How to holistically design and manage road-vehicle-infrastructure integrative systems to support the transition to automated and electrified transport systems?
Research Area members
Research Area Leader
Core members
- Postdoc, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Postdoc, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Postdoc, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Postdoc, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Doctoral Student, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Assistant Professor, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Doctor, Geology and Geotechnics, Architecture and Civil Engineering
Affiliated members
Key Publications
A multi-objective reinforcement learning-based velocity optimization approach for electric trucks considering battery degradation mitigation
Authors: Ruo Jia, Kun Gao, Shaohua Cui, Jing Chen, Jelena Andric Published: Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Feb 2025
Transforming public transport depots into profitable energy hubs
Authors: Xiaohan Liu, Patrick Plötz, Sonia Yeh, Zhengke Liu, Xiaoyue Cathy Liu, Xiaolei Ma
Published: Nature Energy, August 2024.
Big-data-driven approach and scalable analysis on environmental sustainability of shared micromobility from trip to city level analysis
Authors: Kun Gao, Ruo Jia, Yuan Liao, Yang Liu, Arsalan Najafi, Maria Attard
Published: Sustainable Cities and Society, Nov 2024
Integrating shared e-scooters as the feeder to public transit: A comparative analysis of 124 European cities
Authors: Aoyong Li, Kun Gao, Pengxiang Zhao, Kay W. Axhausen.
Published: Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Mar 2024
Fleet availability analysis and prediction for shared e-scooters: An energy perspective
Authors: Jiahui Zhao, Jiaming Wu, Sunney Fotedar, Zhibin Li, Pan Liu.
Published: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, November 2024
Coordination of coupled electrified road systems and active power distribution networks with flexibility integration
Authors: Arsalan Najafi, Georgios Tsaousoglou, Kun Gao, Omkar Parishwad
Published: Applied Energy, September 2024
Delay-throughput tradeoffs for signalized networks with finite queue capacity
Authors: Shaohua Cui, Yongjie Xue, Kun Gao, Kai Wang, Bin Yu, Xiaobo Qu,
Published: Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, February 2024
Collaborative electric vehicle routing with meet points
Authors: Fangting Zhou, Ala Arvidsson, Jiaming Wu, Balázs Kulcsár
Published: Communications in Transportation Research, December 2024
Key Projects
Projects
In Chalmers’ research portal you will find more projects by the members of Urban Mobility Systems.
Publications
In Chalmers’ research portal you will find more publications by the members of Urban Mobility Systems.