Research

Health and Transportation: About 6 million people in America miss healthcare due to transportation problems. My research looks at how technological advances, policy changes, and events like the pandemic are reshaping options for accessing non-emergent medical services. We’ve documented the scale of these issues, identified emerging models around ridehailing and microtransit, and assessed transport barriers to vaccination. We’ve evaluated how COVID-19 changed transport barriers and solutions for patients and medical providers and have mapped the spatial patterns of COVID-19 vaccine access. To learn more, please access the articles or view this webinar on Innovation in Healthcare Access.

Our current project looks at how the shift of North Carolina’s Medicaid program from fee-for-service to managed care has impacted transit systems in the state.

Urban Freight: Technology and changing consumer behavior are leading to increased freight travel in urban areas. I’m interested in the impacts on safety for all road users as well as questions about how planners can respond to these changes. Co-authors and I have documented trends in freight-related injuries and fatalities nationally and in North Carolina and assessed how cities and towns plan for freight traffic. We’re currently looking at injury rates and perspectives among small parcel delivery drivers using national data and social media. To learn more, take a look at a webinar we did on Planning for Urban Freight Delivery or this ITE Journal article.

Previous Projects

Harnessing Data for Decision Making: Colleagues and I developed Carolina Tracker, a data dashboard that harnesses a wide set of indicators to monitor the social and economic impacts of COVID-19. We’re using the available data to research how travel to healthcare has changed since the onset of the pandemic and how those changes varied across North Carolina. You can learn more through this News and Observer editorial.