High-resolution Measurement of Transit Riders’ Extreme Heat Exposure across U.S. Cities

Extreme heat events, exacerbated by climate change and urban heat island effects, pose severe risks to public health and urban infrastructure. Public transit riders, especially in densely populated urban areas, are disproportionately affected by heat due to factors such as extended outdoor times, high urban temperatures, and inadequate heat-mitigating infrastructure. Transit based heat exposure is a critical social equity issue, as it disproportionately affects vulnerable and marginalized population due to disparities in access to cooling, housing, mobility, and workplace conditions. However, very few studies focus on the heat exposure of public transit riders. The challenges are twofold. First, prior studies do not consider exposure time as a factor in the calculation of heat exposure. With the longer walking and waiting time due to public transit’s low reliability and first/last-mile problem, exposure time can be as important as the temperature. Second, there is a lack of high-resolution thermal comfort data at the individual level to sustain this measurement. Prior studies largely use air or ground temperature as the proxy of personal thermal comfort, which is not accurate enough to represent public transit riders’ experience. To calculate a high-fidelity, high-resolution exposure during each transit trip, we need to calculate the fine-grained transit time and the corresponding thermal comfort temperature. To address these gaps, we propose a new system – Transport Heat Exposure Index (THEI) – as a comprehensive approach to quantify and analyze heat exposure across public transit systems. With high-performance computation and deep learning techniques, we will process high-resolution (1 meter) historical meteorological data, public transit General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) schedule and real-time data, and urban 3D built environment data, including bus stops shelter, street-level tree canopy, buildings, and sidewalk inventory. The objective of this research is to develop a state-of-the-art framework to gauge high-resolution heat exposure of transit riders when accessing different destinations with urban microclimate modeling and detailed transit network routing techniques. With the empirical findings and the methods, researchers and policymakers can more effectively understand heat exposure nuances and devise strategies to mitigate its public and urban impacts. Such insights will foster targeted interventions and informed planning, enhancing community resilience and social equity against escalating extreme heat events. Outputs will include 1. A new methodology to measure transit-based heat exposure by analyzing GTFS, high-resolution meteorological data, and built environment data. 2. A new framework to guide planners and transit authorities understand heat exposure and simulate the effects of potential changes in infrastructure or service patterns. 3. A comprehensive transit heat exposure database available to the public. 4. A technical report 5. Manuscript(s) for publication and presentation.

• Record URL:
  https://www.uno.edu/cetoc
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Funding: $130,000 (USDOT) + $65,000 (matching funds) = $195,000

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $195000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348337

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities (CETOC)

  University of New Orleans
  New Orleans, LA  United States 
• Project Managers:

  Kline, Robin

  Danton, Bob

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Florida

  207 Grinter Hall
  PO Box 115500
  Gainesville, Florida  United States  32611

  University of Colorado, Denver

  Denver, CO  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Yan, Xiang

  Marshall, Wesley

  Shirgaokar, Manish

  Misra, Aditi

• Start Date: 20241001
• Expected Completion Date: 20250930
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate change; Heat; Planning; Public transit; Transit riders; Weather and climate
• Subject Areas: Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01928836
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities (CETOC)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348337
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 26 2024 2:55PM