BTR Blog

October 21, 2025 – Best Paper Awards for BTR#7

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Best Paper Awards for the BTR#7 conference. You’ll find all authors’ names & paper titles for Best Paper Awards in Eastern & Western tracks + the Sustainable Mobility and Transport Nature Portfolio Journal (npj), along with Honorary Mentions for both tracks.

The detail is available in the archive page of BTR#7.

October 6, 2025 – In Memoriam: Professor Jun Liu

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Professor Jun Liu of The University of Alabama.
Professor Liu was a highly respected scholar whose research made outstanding contributions to the fields of travel behavior analysis, transportation safety, and transportation planning. His work has had a lasting impact on the academic community and continues to inspire researchers and practitioners around the world.

Professor Liu also made significant contributions to the operation of the BTR Conference, helping to advance the exchange of knowledge and collaboration among transportation researchers.

We extend our deepest condolences to Professor Liu’s family, friends, colleagues, and all who were touched by his life and work.

May 8 – BTR Job Board/Sponsor Spotlight/Headliner Highlights

BTR Job Board

BTR is more than just a conference – it’s a hub for the international travel behaviour community. Have you checked out our job board lately? If you’re advertising a job or looking for a new opportunity, the BTR job board is an informal (and free!) place to start your search.

Headliner Highlights – Dr. Moshe Ben-Akiva

Moshe Ben-Akiva is the Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Director of the MIT Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Lab, and Principal Investigator at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. He holds a PhD degree in Transportation Systems from MIT and was awarded honorary degrees from the University of the Aegean, the Université Lumiére Lyon, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and the University of Antwerp.

His awards include the Robert Herman Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Science from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Association for Travel Behavior Research, the Jules Dupuit prize from the World Conference on Transport Research Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ITS Society Outstanding Application Award for DynaMIT, a system for dynamic network management.

Ben-Akiva has co-authored two books, including the textbook Discrete Choice Analysis, published by MIT Press, and nearly 400 papers in refereed journals or refereed conferences. He has worked as a consultant in industries such as transportation, energy, telecommunications, financial services and marketing for a number of private and public organizations, including Hague Consulting Group, RAND Europe, and Cambridge Systematics, where he was previously a Senior Principal and member of the Board of Directors. He also was an advisor to Memetrics and ChoiceStream, provided litigation support to Analysis Group and Brattle Group and is the Chief Scientific Advisor to Mobile Market Monitor. He was recently a member of the Future Interstate Highway System Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Thank you for joining us for BTR 7, Dr. Ben-Akiva!

Sponsor Spotlight – MIT Mobility

The MIT Mobility Initiative (MMI) is a global platform to accelerate a safe, clean and inclusive mobility system through research, education, entrepreneurship and engagement. The MMI is structured around four pillars:

Research – catalyze cross-disciplinary research that provides insight to strategic challenges for industry and society.
Education – manage and enhance MIT’s transportation degree programs and expand the executive education offering.
Entrepreneurship – leverage MIT’s innovation ecosystem to spin off mobility tech startups and support existing startups.
Engagement – foster direct interaction with leaders from business and government on the “front lines” of the mobility revolution.

Thank you for your sponsorship, MMI!

May 5 – 13 PhD Positions at TRANSFORM, Sponsor Spotlight, Headliner Highlights

TRANSFORM Seeks 13 PhD Students

PhD candidates, look no further! TRANSFORM is hiring 13 – yes, THIRTEEN – students for various positions in this brand-new collaborative network of researchers. Locations and supervisors vary for each position. Please check https://lnkd.in/d7kxDK-u to see if any of these positions is the right fit for you!

Sponsor Spotlight – Amirkabir University of Technology

Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), also called Tehran Polytechnic, is a public technological university located in Tehran, Iran. Founded in 1958, AUT is the oldest technical university established in Iran.

The university was founded in 1928 as a technical academy and was further transformed into a full-fledged university by Habib Nafisi in 1956. After that, it was extended and enlarged by Dr. Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi, during the Pahlavi dynasty. Named the Tehran Polytechnic, it initially offered five engineering degrees, namely; Electrical and Electronics, Mechanical, Textile, Chemistry, and Construction and Infrastructure. Six months before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Tehran Polytechnic, was renamed after the Iranian prime minister Amir Kabir (1807–1852).

The university now has 18 science and engineering departments, dozens of research groups and laboratories, and three other affiliated centers, located in Garmsar, Bandar Abbas and Mahshahr.

AUT is the pioneer of sustainable development in Iran and established the Office of Sustainability in 2011. The activities of this office contribute to the AUT campus by reducing energy consumption, costs, and emissions, and also provide student coursework, volunteer opportunities for students, as well as research and education academic activities on sustainable development.

AUT, thank you for supporting BTR 7!

Headliner Highlights – Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou

Marianne Hatzopoulou is Professor in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Transport Decarbonization and Air Quality. She leads the Transportation and Air Quality (TRAQ) research group studying the interactions between transportation, air quality, climate change, and public health; she published 150 publications on these topics.

Prof. Hatzopoulou is also the Director of Positive Zero Transport Futures, a living lab ecosystem for testing transport decarbonization innovations with positive societal outcomes. Prof. Hatzopoulou is on the Canadian team of researchers who were the 2021 recipients of the NSERC Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering.

In 2022, she received the University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Network 2T5 Mid-Career Achievement Award. She is an associate editor of the journal Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment and the current chair of the Transportation Research Board Standing Committee on “Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation” (2023-2026).

For more about Dr. Hatzopoulou, please check out her website.

Thank you for joining us for BTR 7, Dr. Hatzopoulou!

April 23 – Deadline Reminder, Sponsor Spotlight, Headliner Highlights, and More Information on Best Paper Award in Sustainable Transport

Deadline Reminder

Only one week remains! Submit your paper before midnight on April 30th to participate in BTR 7. Remember, it’s FREE!

More Details on Best Paper Award in Sustainable Transport

If you were hoping to be “in the running” for our brand-new award category this year, below you can find all the information you need to know to… well, run! Good luck – remember to submit by April 30, 2025.

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We are delighted to announce the Best Paper Award in Sustainable Transport, which will be conferred at the upcoming Bridging Transportation Researchers (BTR), recognizing exceptional research that advances the state of sustainable mobility and transport systems.

In collaboration with the journal npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport, this award celebrates scholarly excellence and provides an opportunity for broader dissemination of impactful research.

Award Details

Prize: €250
Publication Opportunity: The awardee will receive a free article processing charge (APC) waiver to submit an extended version of their paper for peer review in npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport.

Eligibility

The paper must be presented at the conference by at least one of the authors.
The research must address sustainability in transport, including but not limited to active mobility, public transport, multimodal integration, equity, policy innovation, or technology-driven solutions.
Only full papers accepted and presented at the conference are eligible for consideration.

Selection Process

A dedicated scientific committee will evaluate eligible papers based on: Scientific quality – Relevance to sustainable transport – Originality and innovation – Clarity of presentation
The winning paper will be announced during the closing session of the conference.

About the Journal

npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by Nature Portfolio, focusing on research that fosters sustainable, equitable, and efficient transport systems. The awarded paper will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process prior to publication.

For more information about submission criteria or the review process, please contact: https://bridgingtransport.org/registration/paper-submission/

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to celebrating the best in sustainable transport research!

Sponsor Spotlight
NTRO – National Transport Research Organisation is the leading entity conducting transportation research in Australia. For 60 years, they have worked to improve the movement of people and goods across the region, with four key values as their guide:

Collaborative
Integrity
Energy and Passion
Transformative

The work of NTRO began with a focus on road research, and over time has expanded to include all modes of transportation. We are proud to have NTRO as one of the founding sponsors of BTR, who have been right there with us from the beginning. Thank you to our friends from NTRO!

Headliner Highlights: Dr. David Levinson

We are honoured to have Dr. David Levinson of the University of Sydney as our Eastern Track headliner on August 6th. If you’d like to know more about Dr. Levinson, here are just a few highlights:

-He worked at the University of Minnesota for just shy of twenty years before relocating to Australia. He now heads the Transport Engineering research group there, among other pursuits.

-Dr. Levinson was awarded the 1995 Tiebout Prize in Regional Science.

-He has authored several books and numerous peer-reviewed articles.

Here are links to several pages detailing his work and publications:

The Transportist

Dr. Levinson at Google Scholar

Thank you for joining us for BTR 7, David Levinson!

April 10 – Lots of News!

Deadline Extension

Did you miss the original deadline? Never fear, the extension is here! Twenty days remain to submit your papers. We can’t wait to read them! BTR 7 paper submission are now due by April 30, 2025.

BTR 7 Headliners Announced

BTR 7 Headliners have now been confirmed! We are pleased to welcome Dr. David Levinson, Dr. Yiqiu Tan, Dr. Moshe Ben-Akiva, and Dr. Marianne Hatzopoulou, our fantastic lineup for 2025. Thank you headliners!

Sponsor Spotlight – UT Austin Cockrell School of Engineering

Just in case you thought the BTR deadline extension was an April Fool’s Day joke, we are proud to celebrate one of the longest-running April 1st traditions in engineering – St. Alec, who makes his home at UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering.

The Cockrell School is the top engineering school in Texas, and in the top ten in the U.S. For more than a hundred years, the Cockrell School has been educating and inspiring engineering students in the heart of Austin, Texas. One of the favourite histories of those engineers is the legend of St. Alec, who began as a “kidnapping” prank, spent many years an innocent victim of the ongoing rivalry between the law and engineering schools, and is now enjoying a peaceful retirement as the patron saint of philanthropy at Cockrell.

Thank you, UT Austin Cockrell School of Engineering, for your sponsorship – and for a good laugh!

Please see here and here for more information about St. Alec.

April 3 – New Sponsor Announcement

Announcing a new sponsor: the University of Hong Kong’s Institute of Transport Studies!

The UHK ITS seeks to identify research programmes as mission-oriented activities as opposed to traditional academic disciplines alone. The organization is passionate about sustainable transportation in the city of Hong Kong, the region, and around the world. Thank you for partnering with BTR!

March 25 – New Paper Award Announced

We are excited to announce the ‘Best Paper in Sustainability award’ , sponsored by the Nature Portfolio Journal. This award is available to all papers related to sustainability that will be presented at the BTR Conference on 6-7 august 2025. The winning paper will receive an APC waiver for submission to the new Nature Journal npj “Sustainable Mobility and Transport”, which focuses on advancing inclusive and sustainable transport solutions in line with UN SDGs 3, 9, and 11. The awarded paper must align with the aim and scope of the journal and undergo an additional review before publication. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain recognition and contribute to cutting-edge research in sustainable mobility! Submit your paper to BTR now!

March 18, 2025 – Sponsor Spotlight

As the BTR submission deadline begins to loom (TWO WEEKS!), we continue to showcase our many sponsors around the world. This week, we are proud to feature COTA, the Chinese Overseas Transportation Association. COTA was established in 1996 with a mission to connect transportation professionals around the world and our colleagues in China.

The 25th annual COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP) is taking place this July in Guangzhou, China. This year’s focus will be on transportation, AI, and energy. Check out this page for more information.

COTA, thank you for your support!

March 2, 2025 – Sponsor Announcement and Spotlight

SPONSOR UPDATE: We are proud to announce that we have two new sponsors joining the global network behind BTR. Amirkabir University of Technology – Tehran Polytechnic and China Highway and Transportation Society (https://www.chts.cn/) have joined our team. Thank you to our new sponsors! We are honoured to have your support.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

As the paper submission deadline approaches, we continue to celebrate our fabulous sponsors. This week, IATBR is in the spotlight!

IATBR (International Association of Travel Behaviour Research) first met in Maine, USA in 1973, and has met approximately every three years since then in many different locations all over the world, including the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and the UK, among others.

The history of IATBR is detailed on their website – click here for a fun article by David Henscher and a paper of a more academic bent from Elisabetta Cherchi.

We are fortunate to enjoy the support of this strong coalition of international researchers. Thank you, IATBR!

Feb 23, 2025 – Sponsor Spotlight

With five weeks left until the BTR submission deadline, we’d like to celebrate one of the sponsors of this year’s BTR Conference – The University of Tokyo!

UTokyo is located in the Bunkyo-ku (special ward) of Tokyo, Japan. The university was officially formed in 1877 when three older schools merged: the Confucian school Senseiden (先聖殿), founded in 1630; Tenmongata, an astronomical research school, established in 1684 by the Shogunate; and the Kanda Otamagaike Vaccination Centre, founded in 1858.

Today, UTokyo is Japan’s top university and a vibrant, cutting-edge research centre. We are honoured to be a part of UTokyo’s long and storied history. UTokyo, thank you for your sponsorship!

Feb 19, 2025 – Paper Submissions Deadline Approaching

Gather your team and nail down those edits, because it’s coming up fast! Six weeks left to submit your paper to this year’s BTR conference. We look forward to receiving many exciting and innovative submissions again this year.

Submit here: https://lnkd.in/eayMCdc6

Not ready to submit a paper this year? You can still attend the conference from the comfort of your home or office – all you need is an internet connection and a bit of time zone figuring.

Feb 13, 2025 – BTR 6 Award Winners Announced!

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Best Paper Award for the 6^th BTR Conference. After thorough review and consideration by our esteemed panel of judges and reviewers, the awards have been presented. Thank you to all authors who participated in last year’s conference. We look forward to seeing you again later this year. The submission deadline for BTR 7 is only six weeks away!

	Western Track	Eastern Track
Presenter, and other authors	Leah Kaplan, Lola Nurullaeva, and John Paul Helveston	Yan Liu, Chiara Calastri, Thijs Dekker
Title of Paper	Modeling the Operational & Labor Costs of Autonomous Robotaxi Services (watch the recording at 0:47:46)	Exploring the Potential of Computational Graph Frameworks for Choice Modelling ( watch the recording at 1:26:18)
Snapshot of Reviewers’ Comments	This study offers a significant advancement by addressing a gap in previous research, which often assumed that vehicle automation would entirely eliminate labor costs by removing drivers. Instead, the paper provides a thorough analysis of the various frontline labor roles essential for supporting robotaxi services, offering a more realistic depiction of labor costs. This contribution enhances the plausibility of assumptions regarding autonomous vehicle (AV) costs. Additionally, the well-articulated text and clear presentation effectively engaged the audience and stimulated insightful discussions.	This paper offers a potential to revolutionize traditional choice modelling approaches by utilising Computational Graph method addressing the estimation and optimisation challenges in choice modelling. The comparison of multiple estimation methods, both analytical and machine-learning-based, is well constructed and every attempt is made to put the methods on a level playing field. The various “traditional” methods of estimation of MNL, Mixed Logit, etc. models are compared to ML models, with particular description and focus on Computation Graph (CG) techniques. Both the computational resources / effort required by each method is laid out, as well as the quality of results. The results are very well described with tables comparing the various metric, and discussion of interesting results following each.