April Post Doc Spotlight: Rotem Mashkov
Rotem Mashkov is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Prof. Paul Hess. She is a human geographer and an urban planner whose research interests include the tourist experience, urban tourism, cognitive urbanism, and the application of advanced tracking technologies to explore human experiences in urban settings.
She earned her Ph.D. in Geography in November 2024 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her dissertation, entitled " Sensing Urban Overtourism: Innovative Measurement Approaches, " utilized a multidimensional methodology that combined GPS tracking, online surveys, and embodied measures such as electrical skin conductance (EDA) and eye-tracking glasses. The research investigated the effects of overtourism on visitor experiences in congested urban environments, resulting in two papers published in high-ranking journals: Tourism Geographies and the Journal of Travel Research, with a third article currently under second revision for the Annals of Tourism Research.
During her work at the Advanced Tracking Technologies Lab (ATTL), led by her PhD supervisor, Prof. Noam Shoval, she contributed to developing innovative methods for assessing visitor experiences in diverse settings, including memorial sites and museum exhibitions in Berlin and Munich, religious sites in Jerusalem, and hotel buffets on the Gold Coast, Australia. Her work involved designing and conducting field experiments that integrated GPS data with physiological sensors to capture both objective and subjective dimensions of visitor experiences.
Her current research investigates the cognitive and emotional dimensions of urban underground spaces (UUS), using Toronto’s underground pedestrian wayfinding system, the PATH, as a case study. This work explores how UUS environments influence visual attention, cognitive load, and emotional responses, aiming to enhance accessibility, safety, and overall well-being in these spaces.
For the third year, the Mobility Network is offering a graduate fellowship in sustainable urban mobility. The goals of the Roschlau Graduate Fellowship in Sustainable Urban Mobility are to stimulate innovative applied research, to inform public policy and to assist a student in pursuing their field of study.
This award is made possible through a generous donation from Michael W. Roschlau, U of T alumnus and former President & CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.
The successful candidate will undertake primary research on their chosen topic from September 2025 to May 2026
Eligibility
To be eligible to receive this award, you must be registered as a full-time graduate student, at a doctoral or master’s level, at the University of Toronto and must be pursuing research related to sustainable urban mobility (with a focus on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of human mobility) in architecture, business, economics, engineering, geography, planning, political science, or related fields.
Your research interests should incorporate innovative concepts and be relevant to current public policy or practice. Potential research themes could include, but are not limited to, the following areas:
- Public transit expansion and investment
- Public transit operations
- Active transportation
- Integrated urban mobility
- Urban development and land use-transport interaction
The holder of the award is required to produce a policy paper and to present their research at a seminar organized by Mobility Network. The support received from the Roschlau Fellowship in Sustainable Urban Mobility must be acknowledged in all presentations and publications.
Amount
The award recipient will receive CAD$5,000, paid in two equal instalments, one in September and one in January. The Roschlau Fellowship in Sustainable Urban Mobility may be held in conjunction with any other award.
Length and Residency
The residency of this award is from September 2025 to May 2026. The holder of this fellowship must be in residence in Toronto to permit full participation in various events and seminars offered by the Mobility Network throughout the academic year.
Application materials
Interested applicants must submit
- A maximum 1-page (single spaced, 12-point font) project proposal that includes an outline of the research idea and how it is connected to your program of study/professional experience.
- A 300-word personal reflection on why you are the ideal candidate for this award.
- A complete and up-to-date resume.
Applications will be accepted until April 30th, 2025.
Please send your complete application package by email to:
- Mobility Network
- Subject Heading: “Your Name” Roschlau Graduate Fellowship Application
- mobilitynetwork@utoronto.ca
Material from your Faculty Supervisor
Please request a 1-2 paragraph letter of recommendation from your faculty supervisor that includes an assessment of both the proposed research and future research promise. Please ask your supervisor to send this recommendation should be sent directly to Mobility Network at mobilitynetwork@utoronto.ca.
Decisions will be announced in late May 2025.
The Mobility Network at University of Toronto recently hosted their 5-Minute Thesis (5MT) competition for graduate students working in transportation and mobility research. This event, showcasing the impressive work of students, features a series of short, impactful presentations that distil years of research into a five-minute video presentation.
Two of the top three recipients of this year’s competition awards are CivMin grad students, who impressed both the judges and their peers with their innovative and thought-provoking research on critical transportation issues. The awards luncheon, held February 26, was overseen by Mobility Network’s Education Specialist Khadija Butt, with Interim Director Steve Farber abstaining from the role, as his student was the winner.
First Place: Paromita Nakshi
Understanding the Long-Term Social Outcomes of Transportation Inequities in Canada
Paromita Nakshi, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Planning, took home the first-place prize with her insightful thesis on the long-term social impacts of transportation inequities in Canada. Supervised by Professor Steven Farber, Nakshi uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore disparities in transportation access and how these inequalities affect social mobility, health, and economic outcomes. Her research aims to guide policymakers toward creating more equitable transportation systems for all Canadians.
Second Place: Sebastian Villada Rivera
Investigating the Electricity Requirements and Interactions with Connected Sectors of Electrifying Canadian Heavy-Duty Trucking Freight
Sebastian Villada Rivera, a MASc student in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, secured second place with his thesis exploring the challenges and opportunities presented by the electrification of Canadian heavy-duty trucking freight. Supervised by CivMin Professors Matthew Roorda and Daniel Posen, his research examines the electricity requirements and the complex interactions with other sectors as Canada moves toward electrifying its freight transportation. This work is crucial for understanding the infrastructure needs and potential environmental benefits of shifting to electric trucks.
Third Place: Hesam Rashidi
Centring Human Needs in Last-Mile Delivery Design
Hesam Rashidi, a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, earned third place for his research focusing on the human aspects of last-mile delivery logistics. Supervised by Professor Mehdi Nourinejad and CivMin Professor Matthew Roorda, his thesis critiques the industry’s reliance on algorithmic designs that prioritize speed and cost over the well-being of drivers, consumers, and retailers. Rashidi proposes a more human-centred approach to last-mile delivery systems, one that takes into account the preferences and needs of the drivers who form the backbone of the retail supply chain.
Watch the Winning Presentations!
The winning presentations are available on YouTube. You can view the thought-provoking work of these talented graduate students below.
- 1st place: https://youtu.be/7VX5UjxTtJM?si=bhRg4qNMEp6ItsLu
- 2nd place: https://youtu.be/NsmLB0HM0SE?si=ApSpNA5FA3TGOqCz
- 3rd place: https://youtu.be/XSE67ZPyaeg?si=MXqaQsSeQROxlUnC
This post was created by Phill Snel. Read the original post here.
Martin Holmes (he/him) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto St. George. He holds a PhD in Public Health Sciences from the University of Waterloo, where his research focused on food literacy—the knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to food—and health measurement. His academic background is rooted in urban ecology, with previous research exploring downtown revitalization efforts and access to public parks and recreation opportunities.
As part of the SAUCY Lab under the direction of Dr. Michael Widener, Martin is contributing to the second iteration of the Canadian Food Environment Database (CanFED). This data, part of the Healthy Eating and Supportive Environments (HEAL) initiative, will be used to investigate how food environments shape dietary intake and health outcomes. His work involves applying statistical methods and geographic information systems (GIS) to assess food landscapes, identify spatial differences in food access and model associations between food access from an equity perspective.
Martin’s experience and current research follow his overarching interest in integrating spatial analysis with public health to inform urban planning and policy. His goal is to advance research that supports the development of healthier, sustainable, and resilient cities that promote population health for everyone.
In addition to research, Martin has been a part-time faculty member at Nipissing University for the past 13 years, where he teaches various undergraduate geography courses.
Outside of academia, Martin is an avid traveller and enjoys staying active through soccer and swimming. He has a passion for cooking and exploring recipes from around the globe. He is currently revelling in life with his two cats, Broccoli and Brussel Sprout - who provide a daily dose of chaos and entertainment.
Ya Gao is a Mobility Network Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto St. George. She is a transportation and urban planning researcher whose areas of interest include travel demand modelling, the modelling of travel behaviour choices, and the interaction between urban development and transportation. She holds a doctorate in urban planning with a focus on travel behaviour research from Tongji University. Her research involves travel demand modelling with the introduction of new mobility technologies, incorporating big data and machine learning in travel behaviour modelling, examining heterogeneity in travel behaviour, and exploring the impact of online shopping on travel demand.
At the Travel Modelling Group (TMG) under the direction of Dr. Eric Miller, she has been involved in the development of the next generation of TASHA (Travel/Activity Scheduler for Household Agents), the upgrade of GTAModel V4 (an activity-based travel demand model in the Great Toronto and Hamilton Area) and the development of PADUM (Planificateur d’activités de déplacements urbain de Montréal).
Her current research explores the supply and demand of ride-hailing in the city of Toronto using the GTAModel V4 travel demand model system. The research aims to investigate the interaction between ride-hailing supply and demand, its effects on the demand for other travel modes, and the impact of capping ride-hailing licenses using microsimulation techniques.
Marianne Hatzopoulou is Chair 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 over 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 held a Tier2 Canada Research Chair in Transportation and Air Quality (2013-2021) and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Accelerator Supplement (2016-2019), an award recognizing research programs that are highly rated for originality and innovation. She 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. She supported municipal governments and community groups in the appraisal of transportation policies in terms of climate and air quality impacts and served on national and international expert panels, providing advice on the development of strategies to reduce transportation-related emissions.
The Campus-Community Partnership for Reducing Air Pollution in the Bathurst Quay Neighborhood is a collaborative initiative involving the Bathurst Quay Neighborhood Association, the City of Toronto, Toronto Public Health, and Ports Toronto. The project aims to assess population exposure to air pollution and identify the contributions of various sources, such as the airport, highways, and regional background pollution. Additionally, it seeks to inform policy and planning decisions related to land use, transportation, and airport operations. Findings indicate that while air pollutant concentrations in Bathurst Quay are generally comparable to other urban areas in Toronto, the airport is a significant source of ultrafine particles (UFP). Notably, ferry electrification has led to a measurable reduction in certain pollutants. The project has generated key recommendations for mitigating airport-related emissions and has contributed to a deeper understanding of air quality in the neighborhood. Moreover, it provides evidence that targeted interventions, such as ferry electrification, can effectively reduce pollution exposure for the community.
Yu (Billie) Zhang is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto, and a Transportation Modeler with the World Bank Group. With a background in civil engineering, urban planning, and transportation modeling, Billie brings a unique blend of expertise to address critical challenges in transportation systems and urban development globally.
Her research spans transport decarbonization, housing market dynamics, and land-use integration. She currently works with the Canadian federal government (Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, or HICC) on developing methodologies for nation-wide transportation data standardization and quantification of avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transit investments. Concurrently, as a consultant at the World Bank, Billie contributes to the development of global decarbonization simulation tools, focusing on city-level travel demand and GHG emission estimations for the Global South.
Billie’s academic work has produced impactful studies on residential housing supply location choices, agent-based simulation, and spatial housing price analysis, with publications in leading journals like Journal of Urban Planning and Development, Environment and Planning B and Journal of Choice Modeling. Her doctoral research with Dr. Eric J. Miller focuses on the housing supply dynamics and urban microsimulation systems, aiming to advance the methodologies for supply side simulation of housing market analysis in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
Billie has taught undergraduate courses in transportation planning and modern Chinese city planning, and she actively promotes women in STEM fields as a mentor with the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST) and ambassador for the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering (ONWiE). Through her interdisciplinary approach and global outlook, Billie continues to advance sustainable urban and transportation systems while fostering equitable access and data-driven policymaking.
Lindsey Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at The University of Toronto (St. George) and holds a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Smith’s research focuses on built and social environments as targets for promoting sustained healthy behaviours, social equity, and more environmentally sustainable communities.
Project tittle is Healthy Youth in High-rises. The project is led by a team of researchers from the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo, and Western University, in collaboration with Urban Minds, a non-profit organization that engages youth in equitable and sustainable city building.
The research aims to explore the health and equity implications of high-rise neighbourhoods for youth. High-rise housing is increasingly being directed to accommodate rapidly growing urban populations in Canadian cities, yet supply for family and youth-friendly units is limited. The project therefore aims to capture youth perspectives on high-density living, particularly in areas with unequal access to health-promoting amenities such as green space. It uses creative participatory methods to engage youth in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo as co-creators of the research to better understand how high-rise neighbourhoods impact their physical and mental health, and to identify urban design solutions that support healthy equity.
Led by PhD student Luísa Duarte Milani, with support from colleagues at Urban Minds, the team conducted 22 geo-logged go-along interviews and six focus groups involving participatory mapping exercises. Youth emphasized the importance of high-density environments featuring social, cultural, and activity sites, vibrant streetscapes, restful natural spaces, as well as safe transport designs to address mobility constraints and provide opportunities to play or engage in health-promoting activities. Apprehensions related to sanitation and maintenance issues, a lack of spaces designed to include youth, and inadequate transport and streetscape designs that lowered levels of perceived safety and deterred youth from travelling through certain areas.
The co-created research ensures youth have meaningful opportunities to be heard and respected, and to share their perspectives on high-rise living, health, and urban design solutions. This policy- and practice-relevant information is of value to stakeholders in multiple sectors including professional planners, urban designers, developers, and the public health community. Additionally, the participatory methods employed, which involved combined geo-logged audio recordings and momentary survey responses, offer valuable opportunities for researchers exploring mobility and place-based topics. A forthcoming paper will detail the methodological contributions to qualitative rigour and provide guidance for replicating these methods in future studies.
On November 19th, the Mobility Network, UTTAN and UT-ITE hosted a successful event focused on the future of mobility and transportation planning at the University of Toronto, in GB202. The event featured a panel of industry experts, including:
- Amy Z Jiang, Principal at BA Group
- Aubrey Iwaniw, Senior Manager at Metrolinx
- Ali Hadayeghi, Partner at CIMA+
- Vi Bui, Program Manager at York Region
- Julia Salvini, President at Salvini Consulting Inc.
The panel shared valuable insights on key topics such as entering the transportation job market, advice for new graduates and post-docs, and sharing job tips and tricks. Attendees also had the opportunity to engage with the panelists during a Q&A session.
The evening concluded with dinner and networking, allowing participants to connect and discuss new ideas and opportunities in the mobility sector.
Thank you to all our speakers, attendees, and partners for making the event a success. We look forward to future discussions on shaping the future of transportation.
Suburban Mobilities Cluster (SuMo) at the University of Toronto Scarborough is a multi-disciplinary research program that draws on expertise across nine disciplines to tackle four suburban mobility challenges: rising suburban inequalities, improving transportation design and technology, increasing transportation impacts on climate change, and emerging stakes on resilience to shocks.
With support from the Mobility Network, SuMo hosted its second Research Day on Thursday, November 14, 2024. The half-day program featured presentations from faculties and students on a variety of research projects that investigated accessibility measures, active travel of older adults, healthcare access and quality of life.
SuMo Cluster’s Director, Dr. Steven Farber, Associate Professor of Department of Human Geography at UTSC delivered the welcoming remarks. Mobility Network's Khadija Butt, Education Specialist, moderated the session.
The highlight of the Research Day was the ‘Scarborough Survey’ which collected data from Scarborough residents on their mobility and built environment barriers, automobility, access to services, politics, social capital, and health outcomes. The survey has been in active use by the cluster members and students, and several ongoing works utilizing the survey have been presented during the program.
Presentations:
Dr. Ignacio Tiznado Aitken: Introduction: SuMo Cluster and the ‘Scarborough Survey’.
Dr. Chunjiang Li: Exploring the Relationships between Physical Accessibility, Online Shopping, and Travel Behaviour for Grocery Shopping in Scarborough, Canada
Zehui Yin: What Makes People Happy with Their Neighbourhoods? Exploring Individual Characteristics Beyond Sociodemographics in Scarborough, Ontario
Dorian DiTommaso: Analyzing Predictors of COVID-19 Related Transit Risk Perception in Scarborough, Ontario,
Alec Khachatryan: Understanding the behavioural determinants of active travel among older adults: A mixed methods study
Dr Fernando Calderon Figueroa: Diversity, Community, and Mobility: Exploring Trust and the Built Environment in Scarborough.
Note: All research works have been carried out using Scarborough as the study area.
More information on SuMo Cluster and its activities are available here.
Kareem Othman is a Mobility Network Postdoctoral Fellow at the Transit Analytics Lab (TAL), University of Toronto. His research interests include public transit, electric buses, multimodal corridors, traffic management, and Intelligent transportation systems.
At TAL, Kareem is involved in research that explores the benefits and impacts of emerging technologies, such as vehicle connectivity and electrification, on public transit operations with multimodal corridor control taken into consideration.
His current research explores the impact of transit fleet electrification on public transit operations and fleet size requirements in the City of Toronto. In addition, Kareem is conducting research exploring the benefits of vehicle connectivity in improving the overall corridor performance in a multimodal level (for both public transit and the general traffic).
For this month's Faculty Partner Highlights we'd like to feature Professor Amer Shalaby. Professor Amer Shalaby focuses his research on crowds and congestion, both at the local and global levels, with particular emphasis on disruption management. This work intends to help transportation authorities to respond more effectively to unexpected impediments or crises within a network, and permit the rerouting of passengers without seriously affecting migration patterns. As this work continues to evolve it will have ramifications for predicting crowd behaviours on micro levels, such as subways and other public transit applications, where large crowd congestions occur.
The project he is working on is titled "Analytical Framework for Planning On-Demand Transit Services and a Case Study of MiWay”. The project is in collaboration with MiWay, the public transit service of the City of Mississauga. This work was done with his master's student Shahrin Islam and Postdoc Reza Mahmoudi.
The research aims to optimize the use of limited transit resources in Mississauga. While some routes are highly utilized, others remain underperforming. The project aims to explore replacing underutilized fixed routes with on-demand transit services, which are more flexible and can better meet the needs of passengers in areas with lower demand. On-demand transit, similar to services like UberPool, allows passengers to request rides via an app, with routes dynamically adjusted based on demand.
The research team extensively reviewed the literature and industry practices related to on-demand transit in Canada. Additionally, they analyzed nine months' worth of data from MiWay, including AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) data, APC (Automatic Passenger Count) data, and Presto card data. This analysis helped evaluate the performance of the current fixed-route system, identifying underperforming routes and areas where on-demand transit could be beneficial. Based on these findings, the project's next phase will involve developing models to assess the effectiveness of introducing on-demand transit in these identified areas.
The potential impacts of this project are both practical and methodological. Practically, the research will directly inform the implementation of an on-demand transit pilot in Mississauga, helping the city make data-driven decisions on where and how to integrate on-demand services into the existing transit network. Methodologically, the project advances new techniques for evaluating the performance of transit systems, which could be applied to other cities looking to optimize their transit services.