Riccardo Scarinci research projects

This page reports only the academic work registered in the databases of the Transport and Mobility Laboratory, and is not necessarily a comprehensive list of the work by Riccardo Scarinci.

More information may be available here

Accessibility based optimization of educational infrastructure networks

Sponsor: World Bank

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Riccardo Scarinci (PM)

Period: January 01, 2018-December 31, 2018

The aim of this project is to propose a methodology to assess and optimize educational infrastructure networks based on accessibility. In 2014, the World Bank launched the Global Program for Safer Schools (GPSS) with a focus on integrating risk reduction considerations into education infrastructure policies and investments. The GPSS aims to boost and facilitate informed, large-scale investments for the safety and resilience of new and existing school infrastructure at risk from natural hazards, contributing to high-quality learning environments. Understanding accessibility of school infrastructure networks is an important element to optimize risk reduction interventions as well as to improve the quality and efficiency of the educational service. To support this goal, the Transportation and Mobility Laboratory proposes a methodology to assess and optimize educational infrastructure networks based on accessibility; and proposes solutions to improve the performance of educational infrastructure networks. In other words, researchers will evaluate the risks based on the school network, including parameters like transportation network, home location of the students, mobility patterns... They will then provide a methodology in order to help direct investments to reduce the risks in case of disaster.

Leveraging Public and Open Data for Transportation Mode detection

Sponsor: Swisscom

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Marija Nikolic (PM), Riccardo Scarinci (PM)

Period: September 04, 2017-September 04, 2018

Modern smartphones are more than just calling devices. They harbor a wealth of information that provides the transportation field with a new potential. In this project, researchers will create a transportation mode detection model based on telecommunication data from smartphone users combined with public transport-related data sources. The researchers are provided with anonymized telecommunication traces. As those data remain scarce, additional data will be identified from external sources including network infrastructure, route maps, time schedules in static or real-time form, microcensus, weather, etc. A probabilistic model will be developed to infer the transportation modes from those various data sources. The project lasts one year, and will be carried out by the Transport and Mobility Laboratory, directed by Prof. Michel Bierlaire. It is sponsored by Swisscom.

Capacity building program in urban mobility and transportation

Sponsor: State Secretariat for Economic Affairs

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Yousef Maknoon (PM), Riccardo Scarinci (PM), Yuki Oyama (PM)

Period: September 01, 2016-September 01, 2019

The purpose of this project is to develop graduate curriculum in urban mobility and transportation. The relevant courses of this curriculum will be available in MOOC format. This program is a collaborative project between Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Urban Transport Systems Laboratory (LUTS) and Transport and Mobility Laboratory (TRANSP-OR) at EPFL.

TRANS-FORM: Smart transfers through unravelling urban form and travel flow dynamics

Sponsor: The Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC)

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Shadi Sharif Azadeh (PM), Riccardo Scarinci (PM), Yuki Oyama (PM), Nicholas Molyneaux, Nikola Obrenovic

Period: March 03, 2016-March 03, 2019

TRANS-FORM, a cooperation between universities, industrial partners, public authorities and private operators, will develop, implement and test a data driven decision making tool that will support smart planning, and proactive and adaptive operations. The objective of the project is to better understand transferring dynamics in multi-modal public transport systems and develop insights, strategies and methods to support decision makers in transforming public transport usage to a seamless travel experience by using smart data. The tool will integrate new concepts and methods of behavioral modelling, passenger flow forecasting and network state predictions into real-time operations. TRANS-FORM is funded under the European Commission Horizon 2020 ERA-NET program.

myTOSA 2.0 - Enhanced simulation and optimization tool for cost-optimal deployment of TOSA electric buses

Sponsor: Commission pour la technologie et de l'innovation, Office Fédéral de la formation professionnelle et de la technologie.

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Riccardo Scarinci (PM), Virginie Lurkin (PM), Shadi Sharif Azadeh, Yousef Maknoon

Period: September 30, 2015-November 16, 2017

The TOSA catenary-free electric bus system is the ABB response to the challenge of decreasing the environmental impact of public transportation. The project builds on the previous CTI project - myTOSA - and it aims to introduce new business analytics features and to improve the fidelity of the simulation and (robust) optimization modules used for a cost-optimal deployment of the TOSA charging infrastructure and component sizing.

Drive For You: a driving assistant tool to detecting pedestrians

Sponsor: MINES ParisTech

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Riccardo Scarinci (PM)

Period: December 01, 2014-November 30, 2018

This project aims to develop an onboard pedestrian tracking system to assist the driver detect them and, ultimately, to increase security. The project, with a duration of four years, will focus on pedestrians detection, tracking and trajectory prediction, and will be will be closely related to vehicle command strategies. The project is part of the automated driving research Chair "Drive for you" led by MINES ParisTech in partnership with French industrialists and three prestigious academic institutions the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL (Switzerland), the University of Shanghai Jiao Tong (China) and the University of Berkeley (USA). Supported by the Foundation MINES ParisTech, with Valeo industrial, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Safran contributing 3.7 million euros in funds, the Chair will work for five years on the subject of automated driving. The three main objectives are expand knowledge of self-driving vehicles, develop intelligent onboard systems, get self-driving vehicles on the road in Asia, Europe and the United States.

PostCarWorld: A Trans-Discplinary Multi-Dimensional Stimulation

Sponsor: Swiss National Science Foundation

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Riccardo Scarinci (PM)

Period: December 01, 2013-November 30, 2016

The goal of this project is to explore the future of mobility through the role of the car. The main originality of this research is to raise the following problem: “What, if the world were a post-car world”. The basic idea is to define a hypothetical situation where the place of the car would have been dramatically reduced and to use qualitative and quantitative simulation methods to examine the consequences of this initial hypothesis. The research is based on the idea that by simulating the future through scenarios we can understand the present better. This project is fully interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary. It brings together social sciences, engineering sciences, urban planning and urban design in six different laboratories associated to three different universities. The role of TRANSP-OR in this project is to study and optimize an innovative transport system based on accelerated moving walkways (AMW). Differently from constant moving walkways, AMW can reach speeds up to 15km/h thanks to an acceleration section. The project aims to identify the optimal design of a network of AMW using optimization. A network of accelerated moving walkway in a car-free urban environment may present an innovative solution, and this project could delineate the system feasibility.

Pedflux: Pedestrian flow modeling in train stations

Sponsor: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Michaël Thémans (PM), Riccardo Scarinci (PM), Flurin Hänseler

Period: April 01, 2012-March 31, 2015

The aim of this collaborative research project between the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS) and EPFL's transportation center is to analyze, model and optimize pedestrian flows in train stations. In recent years, the growing number of passengers has led to difficulties related to pedestrian flows in major train stations. Congestion of pedestrian walkways is increasingly becoming a problem during peak hours, but also due to clustering of people caused by major events or the beginning or end of holiday season. When capacity limits for pedestrian facilities are reached, normal operation of train schedules can be significantly impaired. Since train stations are important nodes within the multimodal public transportation system, it is of major importance that they are operated as efficiently as possible. In addition to the increase in passenger numbers, train stations have been undergoing a profound transformation from simple transit nodes towards versatile hubs that provide interface to short and long-distance train connections, to other modes including private transport by foot, bike and car, as well as to the city offering public space for shopping, eating and alike. This transformation leads to a further increase in pedestrian numbers and additionally introduces new behavior patterns. A sound understanding of pedestrian flows within a train station can help improve overall level of service, customer experience and safety. The main focus of this study lies on the development of a methodology allowing to estimate pedestrian origin-destination (OD) demand within a train station. Specifically, train time table, customer survey data and flow observations from an exhaustive camera system are used as sources of information in this process. Subsequently, the modeling frame work is applied to several case studies in Switzerland.

Pedestrian dynamics: flows and behavior

Sponsor: Swiss National Science Foundation

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Bilal Farooq (PM), Riccardo Scarinci (PM), Antonin Danalet, Flurin Hänseler, Marija Nikolic

Period: April 01, 2012-March 31, 2015

This project aims at developing mathematical models of pedestrian dynamics, both at aggregate and disaggregate levels. Integrated and holistic mathematical models will handle the complexity of this unique transport mode and help us to answer open research questions. in the future, such foundations will also allow to create the tools society needs to better understand pedestrian dynamics.