Seminarium: How do sports games impact public transportation crowding and urban mobility networks? Evidence from Washington, DC, US

Abstract: On-board crowding is a phenomenon that undermines the appeal and effectiveness of public transportation (PT). Even though the topic of on-board crowding has been widely explored in the literature, the role of irregular travelers, such as attendees of Planned Special Events (PSEs) (e.g., large concerts, festivals, and sports events), remains underexplored. Demand spikes induced by PSEs routinely overwhelm urban rail and bus corridors, resulting in unsafe platform densities, long clearance times, and delay spillovers. In this study, we propose a holistic framework leveraging automated data sources (smart card data, ride-hailing, and bike sharing trip data) for understanding and evaluating the impact of PSEs (sports games) on:

i) PT on-board crowding and 

ii) the utilization of emerging mobility services, such as ride-hailing services and shared micromobility (bike sharing) 

We apply our framework to Washington, DC, US, and we model the impact of i) the Washington Nationals baseball games, Washington Capitals hockey games, and Washington Wizards basketball games during Spring 2024. Results reveal that the PT (metro) accounts for the highest share (25%-33%), followed by ride-hailing (7%-17%) and bike-sharing services (<1%) across all sports game categories. This finding translates into substantial differences in local and non-local crowding levels during the pre- and post-game periods. Interestingly, the ride-hailing share is higher at centrally located venues with direct metro access than at peripheral venues. We also identify distinct temporal patterns across modes: ride-hailing trips are more concentrated and occur closer to event start times, whereas PT demand is more evenly distributed over time; in the post-game period, we observe an inverse trend. Lastly, our framework can contribute to the development of demand management strategies to maximize the efficiency of the transportation system during PSEs.

Bio: Anastasios Skoufas is a Researcher and PhD Candidate in public transportation systems at the Division of Transport Planning at KTH and a former Visiting Researcher at the JTL-Transit Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Anastasios is working on modeling the travel behavior of passenger groups, further leveraging automated data sources to inform evidence-based policy initiatives for more efficient transportation systems. Last, Anastasios has an MSc in Transport and Geoinformation Technology (KTH, 2022) and an MEng in Surveying Engineering (with a major in Transportation Engineering) (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2019).Link to Anastasios Skoufas' profile.

Zoom link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/68476899003