SCC-CIVIC-PG Track A: Community Hub for Smart Mobility

Due to issues of housing affordability, Americans often must live far from their jobs. This spatial mismatch causes commuter traffic congestion resulting in an annual $29 billion loss to the US economy. Furthermore, many transportation systems were designed decades ago for outdated working and living patterns, often leaving communities without the transportation infrastructure they need.

This project addresses these issues through development of a novel “Community Hub for Smart Mobility” (CHSM) concept. CHSMs will be community-level hubs where residents can access multiple modes of transport such as (e-)bike shares, e-scooters, ride hail, electric vehicle charging stations, and public transit. By utilizing a development process informed by community member input as well as quantitative modeling, CHSMs will directly address the unique transportation needs of community residents.

CHSMs will provide more mobility options, increase access to jobs, and improve the overall efficiency of affected transportation systems. The findings from this project will contribute to knowledge not only in the field of transportation, but also participatory design through a novel community-based model.

The main objective of this project is to develop, implement, and evaluate a Community Hub for Smart Mobility (CHSM) in Austin, TX. This project will design and develop a CHSM in a community identified as impacted by a job/housing spatial mismatch. In Stage 1 of this project, the research team will engage in a co-creation process with residents through community conversations to understand the community’s actual socioeconomic and travel needs.

The research team will integrate this feedback with quantitative modeling to predict the unique transportation need of the community. Findings will be shared and revised with community members in an iterative feedback loop until both the community and research team are satisfied with the results. In Stage 2, leveraging the strong partnership with the City of Austin and further community involvement through workshops and surveys, the project will develop and evaluate the CHSM pilot site.

The site will not require new construction or development, instead utilizing existing infrastructure, services, and spaces (e.g., situating the CHSM on an unused parking lot). After successful development and implementation of the site, the research team will collect ridership datasets and perform additional surveys, interviews, and focus groups to evaluate the success of the CHSM.

The CHSM model has the potential to be implemented in similar communities throughout the US, and the results from this pilot will serve as a model for tackling the job/housing mismatch through community-based mobility solutions nationwide.

This project is in response to Track A – CIVIC Innovation Challenge - Communities and Mobility a collaboration with NSF and the Department of Energy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.