Modelling Active Mobility Seminar 2026

DAY 1 (Friday, June 26): ACTIVE MOBILITY MODELS

8:45 – 9:15. Arrival and coffee at the Bateman Auditorium (enter via the Porters Lodge, Gonville and Caius College on Trinity Street) 

9:15 – 9:30. Welcome and Framing

• Li Wan (University of Cambridge)
• David Lindelow (VREF)
• Andres Sevtsuk (MIT)

Session 1: Foundations — Travel Demand & Behavioral Modeling

9:30 – 11:00. Session Chair: Kay Axhausen.

15 min each + 5 min discussion.

• Kelly Clifton (University of British Columbia) — Considering the Human Environment in Pedestrian Models.
• Alain Chiaradia (Hong Kong University) — Pedestrian distribution in multilevel TOD, from analysis to operationalisation using 3D Spatial Design Network Analysis (3D sDNA).
• Eric Miller (University of Toronto) — Bicycle route choice modelling in Toronto.
• Andres Sevtsuk (MIT) — Recent progress in modeling pedestrian activity.

11:00 – 11:20. Coffee break

Session 2: Foundations 2— Travel Demand & Behavioral Modeling Cntd.

11:20 – 12:50. Session Chair: Niaz Zafri.

15 min each + 5 min discussion.

• Alistair Ford (Newcastle University)  — Data-Driven Planning of Liveable Neighbourhoods and Cycle Networks Using Open Tools in the UK.
• Robin Lovelace (University of Leeds) — Modelling multi-model traffic, casualties and risk: a data-driven approach to improve government guidance on critical safety issues for walking and cycling.
• Raul Kalvo (Estonian Academy of Arts)  — Valuating Sustainable Mobility Through Integrated Land-Use and Public Transport Accessibility.
• Louis Merlin (Florida Atlantic University)  — Stated Preference Survey of Pedestrian Street Crossing Preferences.

12:50 – 14:00. Lunch (Caius College Hall)?

Session 3: Exposure, Health & Environmental Integration

14:00 – 15:30. Session Chair: Belen Zapata Diomedi.

15 min each + 5 min discussion.

• Dominic Jenks (Transport for London)--Healthy Streets for London.
• Niaz Zafri (MIT)— Finetuning pedestrian accessibility indices for walking.
• Andrew Breazeale (London School of Economics)  — Pedestrian route choice preferences in NYC.
• Marco Miotti (ETH Zurich)—Beyond Zones: Multi-Scale, Raster-Network Hybrid Modeling for the Active Mobility.

15:30 – 15:50. Coffee break.

Session 4: Plenary Discussion “What are the biggest modeling gaps in active mobility?”

15:50 – 17:15. Session Chair: Andres Sevtsuk.

Moderated roundtable:

• Kelly Clifton
  
• Eric Miller
  
• Alistair Ford
  
• Alain Chiaradia
  
• Carly Gilbert-Patrick
  
• Geetam Tiwari
  

19:00.  Dinner (Millworks). Map link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTicXwzmLTuE5yiu9

DAY 2 (Saturday, June 27) — FROM MODELS TO POLICY, PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION

9:00 – 9:15. Recap of Day 1. Andres Sevtsuk.

Session 5: Equity, Global South & Rapid Urbanization

9:15 – 10:45. Session chair: Carly Gilbert-Patrick.

15 min each + 5 min discussion.

• Geetam Tiwari (IIT Delhi) — Active mobility in high-density Global South contexts
• Olanike Babalona (VREF / Lagos) — Informality and modeling constraints
• Winnie Mitulah (University of Nairoby, UN)  — Pedestrians’ Intra-Zone trip Generations and route profiles in Mukuru Kwa Njenga Informal Settlement in Nairobi.
• Rob Marty (The World Bank) — Pedestrian Infrastructure, Behavior, and Crash Risk in Nairobi, Kenya.

10:45 – 11:00. Coffee.

Session 6: Implementation & Government Practice

11:00 – 12:30. Session Chair: Rob Marty.

15 min each + 5 min discussion.

• Carly Koinange (Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport) —Active mobility, climate, and global policy frameworks
• James Woodcock (University of Cambridge)  — Modelling the impact of built environment scenarios on multi-dimensional travel behaviors.
• Chiara Molinar (City of Paris) –TBD
• Mark Seaman (NYC DOT Commissioner’s Office)  — Valuing Livable Streets: Pedestrians’ Willingness to Trade Travel Time for Streetscape Amenities in New York City.

12:30 – 13:45. Lunch (Caius College Hall)

Session 7: Walking activities beyond transportation

14:00 – 15:00. Session Chair: Kelly Clifton.

15 min each + 5 min discussion.

• Wenjie Chen (Doctoral Researcher, Loughborough University)— When Social Interaction Becomes Urban Data.
• Shino Miura (Chuo University, Japan)—Reframing Street Evaluation For Inclusiveness: "Strolling Indicator" Development Alternative to Level of Service.
• Puspita Dirgahayani (Professor, Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Policy Development, ITB Bandung, Indonesia) – Walking to The Stop: Land-Use And Built Environment Influences on First- And Last-mile Passenger Experience in Surabaya

Session 8: Breakout Groups

15.00-16.00. The Future of Active Mobility Modeling and Policy Engagement

Participants split into 4 groups:

Group A: Model Development and Integration. Lead: Benjamin Büttner.

Participants: 

Lead: Benjamin Büttner

• Raul Kalvo
  
• Alistair Ford
• Alain Chiaradia
  
• Andres Sevtsuk
  
• Kelly Clifton
  

Questions:

• How can walking, cycling, micromobility and transit live in one modeling framework — and where should they stay separate? What are the main challenges?
• What would interoperable, replicable model architectures look like (shared data standards, open formats, modular components)?
  
• What are the top tool / software development priorities for the next 3–5 years? Are any conceptual shifts in modeling needed?
  
• What are the main technical and institutional challenges to getting there?
  

Group B: Integrating Economic, Health and Environmental Benefits of Active Mobility to Models and Policy. 

Participants: 

Lead: James Woodcock.

• Belen Zapata-Diomedi
  
• Jerry Chen
  
• Keara Dennehy
• Linda Hijriyah 
• Marco Miotti

Questions:

• How can economic, health, and environmental metrics be integrated into modeling frameworks?
• How can active mobility's cross-sectoral benefits be coordinated across transport, health, climate and economic policy?
  
• Can methods and metrics be standardized enough for broad adoption — what is the minimum viable standard?
• Where are the biggest evidence gaps or data gaps that weaken benefit case today?

Group C: City Partnerships & Implementation.

Participants:
Lead: Mark Seaman.

• Dominic Jenks
  
• Carly Gilbert-Patrick
  
• David Lindelow
  
• Matteo Bosi
  
• Winnie Mitullah
  

Questions:

• What do cities actually need from active mobility models to make decisions — and what do they not need?
• How can research models become practical toolkits planners can use — who builds and maintains them?
• What data or methods standardization would most lower the barrier to city adoption?
• What are the key challenges and opportunities for getting models into real policy and planning workflows?
  

Group D: Metrics of Success and Policy-relevant Indicators of Active Mobility.

Participants:

Lead: Louis Merlin.

• Kay Axausen
  
• Shino MIURA
  
• Wenjie Chen
  
• Niaz Mahmud Zafri
  
• Andrew Breazeale

Questions:

• What key indicators of active mobility should governments and researchers track — and which current ones mislead?
• How can these indicators concretely inform policy, planning and street-design decisions?
• What should replace car-era metrics — “LOS,” “Travel Time Savings,” “AADT” — to communicate intervention benefits?
• Which metrics are both rigorous and intuitive enough to land with decision makers and the public?

Participants:
Lead: Geetam Tiwari

• Ying Jin
• Olanike Babalola
• Rob Marty 
• Gladys Nyachieo
• Deepty Jain
  

Questions:

• How do we model active mobility where travel surveys, network and land-use data are sparse, informal, or missing?
  
• How can models represent informal settlements and mixed streets where pedestrians, vendors and vehicles share the same space?
  
• How do we ensure models surface — rather than erase — those most dependent on walking: low-income residents, women, children, the elderly, informal workers?
• What travels and what breaks when models built for the Global North are applied in rapidly urbanizing cities?

Group F: Achieving Mode Shift & Mode-Share Targets

Participants:
Lead: Robin Lovelace

• Chiara Molinar
• Eric J. Miller
• Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher
• Li Wan
• Puspita Dirgahayani
  

Questions:

• Cities set mode-shift goals (e.g. +10% walking, +15% cycling by 2030), yet motorization keeps rising with income, growth and warming. Where can models help close the gap?
  
• (How) can active mobility models represent and forecast mode shift — capturing competition with cars and transit, induced demand, and behavior change?
  
• What do Paris, Helsinki, Shenzhen, London, Lisbon, Bogotá and Singapore reveal about levers that work — and can models capture and transfer them?
• Which interventions (pricing, networks, land use, transit integration) move mode share most, and how should models guide where and how hard to push?

16:00 – 16:15. Coffee.

Session 9: Reporting Back & Synthesis

16:15 – 17:00. Each group: 7 min report. Followed by discussion.

Goal outputs:

• 3–5 research priorities
• 3 practical steps for city engagement
• Potential joint funding proposals

Closing Session

17:00 – 17:30. Reflections.

• David Lindelow (VREF)
• Ying Jin
• Andres Sevtsuk

19:00. Dinner— Queen’s College at the University of Cambridge (dress code: business attire). Dinner is in the Munro Room and the Old SCR. Map Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/eziMmsUQ81E1LqEb6

DAY 3 — (Sunday, June 28) Free Day with optional activities

• Walking tour of Cambridge (time and place TBD)
  
• Punting on the river Cam  (time and place TBD)
  

Monday June 29 – Wednesday July 1: Applied Urban Modeling symposium

 If you are staying, please make sure you have registered (seats were limited and may have run out by now: https://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/news/aum2026 ) 

Queen's College Housing