Platial Analysis Lab

McGill’s contribution to the AAG

November 19, 2020

A quick interactive visualization of McGill researchers presenting their work at the American Association of Geographers annual meeting (2013-2020).

Join the Lab! PhD and Master’s degree opportunities

November 3, 2020

The lab is currently accepting applications for motivated PhD and Master’s students interested topics such as micromobility and location privacy.

The lab welcomes new members

August 31, 2020

The Platial Analysis Lab is excited to welcome four new students to the team: Lauren Cater, Daniel Romm, Emily Chen, and Jonah Levitt. We are looking forward to a fun and productive year…

New CIRA funding for Location Privacy Educational Platform

June 25, 2020

We are happy to share that our research proposal to build a Location Privacy Educational Platform was selected for funding by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority…

Lab receives new funding for location privacy research

May 28, 2020

The lab is pleased to announce that we were recently awarded a grant from the Quebec government to support our continued research on location privacy…

Countries vary in place-based activity response to COVID-19 policies

May 18, 2020

We recently published a paper comparing countries based on the relationship between place-based activity patterns and government enacted policy…

Country Comparison for COVID-19 Community Mobility Response

April 11, 2020

We developed another data visualization portal for comparing country community mobility responses to COVID-19…

Interactive Graph of Canada’s COVID-19 Community Mobility

April 7, 2020

We parsed Google’s COVID-19 Community Mobility PDF for Canada in order to better compare and visualize the data…

McKenzie, Grant; Adams, Benjamin

A country comparison of place-based activity response to COVID-19 policies Journal Article

Applied Geography, 125 (2020), pp. 102363, 2020.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

McKenzie, Grant

Urban mobility in the sharing economy: A spatiotemporal comparison of shared mobility services Journal Article

Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 79 , pp. 101418, 2020.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

@article{McKenzieCEUS2019,
title = {Urban mobility in the sharing economy: A spatiotemporal comparison of shared mobility services},
author = {Grant McKenzie },
url = {https://www.grantmckenzie.com/academics/McKenzie_CEUS2019.pdf},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Computers, Environment and Urban Systems},
volume = {79},
pages = {101418},
abstract = {The influx of micro-mobility services, such as dockless scooter-share and e-bikes, in many cities are contributing to a substantial change in urban transportation with adoption rates reminiscent of other shared-mobility services, such as ride-hailing, years prior. Touted as a solution to the last mile problem, a multitude of micro-mobility companies have situated themselves in urban centers promising low cost alternative transportation options for short, urban travel. The rapid arrival of these companies, however, has left little time for city officials, transportation planners, and citizens to assess the demand for these services and compare them to existing transportation options. In this work, we investigate two key aspects of these micro-mobility services. First, we identify the spatial and temporal differences between these mobility companies and highlight the nuanced differences in usage patterns. Second, we compare these new services to an existing mode of transportation, namely automobile-based ride-hailing, with regards to differences in travel time within a city. The results of these analyses indicate that while many micro-mobility companies are spatiotemporally similar, there are notable differences in where and when these services are used. Similarly, we find that automobile travel is not always the fastest means of transportation within an urban setting. During periods of heavy traffic congestion, e.g., rush hour, micro-mobility services offer a faster means of travel within the city. The findings presented in this work offer evidence on which to inform urban planning and transportation policy with respect to shared mobility services, free floating vehicles, and alternative urban transportation.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

McKenzie, Grant

Spatiotemporal comparative analysis of scooter-share and bike-share usage patterns in Washington, D.C. Journal Article

Journal of Transport Geography, 78 , pp. 19-28, 2019.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

A big "thank you" to @carstenkessler for presenting an interdisciplinary view on geoprivacy today to our lab and… https://t.co/mq0JbZYega2 months

https://t.co/LThoFjQCKR2 months

This is how fortnightly lab meetings look these days @mcgillu. #giscience https://t.co/Gw2upLIT7e3 months

RT @GIScience_RGS: 📢 ANNOUNCEMENT 📢 Registrations are now open for the first event of our new Webinar Series! From Spatial to Platial Data…3 months

Lab member Hongyu Zhang will be leading a Git workshop through the @GIC_McGill on Wednesday. More information and… https://t.co/gzHhQgK9aD3 months