Transport networks and road safety

Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) research seminar with speaker Andrea Gilardi, University of Milan.

Watch seminar here

This seminar will report on methodological work that explores multiple ways to represent and manipulate network data. A key problem posed by spatial networks is that they have an inherent duality: they are simultaneously graph entities (like the famous Königsberg Bridge problem) and spatial entities. In other words, they are spatial networks. Both representations are important in multiple branches of transport, including traffic, air pollution, mode shift, and road safety modelling. This talk will show several pitfalls in common spatial representations of network data, demonstrate various ways of representing transport networks using recently developed open-source software, some of which we have developed, and reports preliminary findings: by breaking up networks into segments of similar sizes, we can better model crash hotspots to inform road safety and sustainable transport policies.

Bio: Andrea is a Ph.D. student in Statistics at the University of Milan - Bicocca. His main research interests lie in the field of spatial and spatiotemporal statistics, with a particular focus on point pattern events on a linear network. At the moment he is working with Dr. Robin Lovelace (Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds), exploring several ways to represent the street network of a city. He will use these studies to create a model for the estimation of the probability that a car accident occurs in every segment of a street network.

Institute for Transport Studies Research Seminar Series: Our seminar series is for anyone interested in the latest transport research. Presented by members of the Institute and guest speakers, the programme is designed to stimulate cross-disciplinary conversations across a range of transport and mobility research areas. The short seminars will be followed by a discussion. The remainder of the session will be a chance to meet up and network. No booking required.