NCSG hiring Post-Doctoral researchers in transportation
One or more fully funded 12-month post-doctoral positions are available to work with a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG) and Center for Geospatial Information Science (CGIS), as well as industry and local government partners. Apply for the position here, and contact nfinio@umd.edu with questions. One or more of the post-doctoral researcher(s) will have a key role in an ongoing project to model ridership across the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) system using survey data, smart card trip data, and an array of factors related to travel, transit ridership, land use, built environment, urban form, and transport infrastructure. A key task will be to enhance a previously developed ridership model using new data sources and through the application of geospatial analytical techniques. The post-doctoral researcher(s) could also participate in other projects currently underway at NCSG and CGIS.
- A primary task of the post-doctoral researcher(s) will be to lead model development and enhancement efforts within the UMD NCSG-CGIS team. Team members previously developed a ridership model in 2015 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
tra.2018.06.011). However, ridership trends have since evolved and the transit system has expanded. At the same time, new built environment and ridership-related variables have become available as well as new machine learning-based approaches for modeling space-time trends. As a result, roles of the postdoctoral researcher(s) on this project will include: (1) collecting and managing a database of diverse variables; (2) creating new variables based on the transportation network, points-of-interest, and neighborhood characteristics; (3) updating the currently existing model; (4) enhancing the ridership model with new variables and the incorporation of spatial dependence structures; (5) employing the ridership model to understand the factors responsible for generating ridership across different types of stations and forecasting future scenarios; and (6) drafting progress reports. The post-doctoral researcher(s) will work closely with the other project members and partnering organizations on model integration, scenario development and analysis, and testing. The project will provide a unique opportunity to work in a truly multi-disciplinary and multi-organizational team composed of transportation and urban planning researchers, geospatial information scientists, local planners, and technologists. - While some of the work is specific to the WMATA project, candidates will be considered for work on other projects as well. These include projects funded by the Federal Transit Administration focused on transit-oriented development in an anticipated light rail corridor, a project funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation focused on travel behavior pre- and post-pandemic, and a project funded by the International Center for Local and Regional Development on commuting patterns in the Republic of Ireland. Skills and experience in land market analysis, accessibility analysis, and survey methods are sought for work on these projects.
- We seek highly motivated and self-driven candidates with good interpersonal skills and the ability to thrive in a diverse, multidisciplinary environment. The successful applicant will have a strong background and research experience in a transportation-related field.