Trinity College of Dublin Assistant Professor Bidisha Ghosh Lecture at NTUA, October 2018

Bidisha Ghosh Assistant Professor of the Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland gave a lecture on October 4th, 2018, at the Department of Transportation Planning and Engineering (Railways Amphitheater) of NTUA titled: “Cycling: Measurements, Impacts and Network Integration”.

The BEAT project: Quantification of the benefits of active travel

ABSTRACT: Active travel such as walking and cycling is increasingly being considered as a key factor in promoting healthy living in cities. Identification, quantification and estimation of the benefits of active travel (BeAT) are critical to justify any policy changes in this vein. The BeAT project aimed at the quantification of individual and social benefits of cycling taking into account health benefits, traffic exposure, pollution, discomfort levels and other relevant factors utilising the WHO approved Burden of Disease (BOD) approach. To improve understanding of cyclist exposure, a new environmental sensing node, BEE node, developed using low cost electronics was built and used in measuring individual cyclist’s exposure to air and noise pollution, vibration and other relevant factors. An optimisation tool for network-wide maximisation of cyclists’ health and environmental impacts through changes in cycling infrastructure was developed to support policy makers. Dublin City in Ireland was used as a test-bed for this project.

The project showed that all aspects of cycling and active travel is not beneficial and it is necessary to consider the positives as well as the negatives while instrumenting policy changes. In addition, the project identified challenges of intelligent sensing and actual implementation of such measurements in a design tool such as an urban transport network model.

B. Ghosh Abstract & CV