Sustainable Transportation Lab


November 16, 2017

What is a PhD student and how does the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act apply

I chose to pursue a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle for a few reasons: I want to teach. I found a passion for it as a tutor and teaching assistant during my undergrad and I want to learn how to educate the next generation(s) of engineers. I want to…


TNCs and transit: frenemies? Again

Yanbo Ge A report that came out recently by researchers from the University of California Davis looks closely into the relationship between Transportation Network Companies (TNCs, also called ride-hailing services) and transit. The article sheds light on several interesting questions related to vehicle ownership and trip replacement of TNC users. By collecting data in several…


November 15, 2017

Minimum time for an electric Cannonball Run

  The advent of the automobile brought an unprecedented level of freedom for Americans: the promise of going anywhere at anytime. To push this ideal to the limits, people have taken this freedom even farther, driving across the country as fast as possible. This exercise is eloquently named the Cannonball Run after Edwin “Cannonball” Baker…


November 13, 2017

Seattle’s Newest Outdoor Activities: Bike Share and Bike Share Trolling

In March Seattle city council voted to remove its bike share program (Pronto) and redirect any proposed funding for future bike shares. At that point I wrote a blog post talking about how Seattle would be the perfect location for a private free float bike share company. I had little expectation that this would happen…


November 6, 2017

Why regulating ride-sourcing fares is risky

Update: Thanks to Harry the Rideshare Guy for pointing me to this paper (also here) by Uber’s Jonathan Hall and Dan Knoepfle, and NYU’s John Horton. The paper addresses the same question covered in this post, albeit in much more depth, and with actual data. The paper finds that the supply of driver labor faced…