Grant McKenzie
Associate Professor

Grant McKenzie is an associate professor of spatial data science in the Department of Geography at McGill University. At McGill, Grant leads the Platial Analysis Lab, an interdisciplinary research group that works at the intersection of information science and behavioral geography. Much of Grant’s work examines how human activity patterns vary within and between local regions and global communities. This has driven his applied interests geoprivacy and new mobility services as well as the broader role that geographic information science plays at the intersection of information technologies and society. Outside of academia, Grant has worked as a data scientist and software developer for a range of NGOs and leading technology companies.

Daniel Romm
Doctoral Candidate

Daniel Romm is a Doctoral candidate in Geography at McGill University, where he is researching free-floating micromobility systems using quantitative methods. Daniel has previously studied these mobility systems using qualitative methods for several years at the University of Toronto, where he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Human Geography in 2020. Daniel also has an interest in theories of “place”, as well as geoprivacy.

Mitra Kashani

Doctoral Student

Mitra Kashani (she/her) is a Doctoral student at McGill University. Her research interests are situated at the spatial nexus of natural disasters, energy access, and public health. For her dissertation, Mitra is examining how social vulnerability and health outcomes connected to disaster-induced power outages are spatially patterned. She is also interested in how existing energy access barriers (namely energy poverty) influence community risk to power outages, as well as how existing modalities of social capital and community cohesion may be protective during prolonged outages. Prior to starting her PhD, Mitra worked as an environmental health scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. She completed her Master of Science degree in microbiology at George Mason University in 2020, where she conducted her thesis research with the U.S. Geological Survey to examine the impacts of oil and gas wastewater releases on environmental health.

Jenny Zhu
Master's Student

Jenny Zhu is a Master of Science student in Geography at McGill University. She will be researching equitable accessibility to micromobility by using mixed methods. Jenny completed her Bachelor of Arts in Urban studies at McGill University, where she utilized GIS techniques for her honour’s thesis. In addition to GIS, she is also interested in sustainable mobility, urban planning, and critical geographies.

Honours Students

Matthew Nichols
ADU capacity in Montreal

Research Assistants

No members found

Alumni

Collaborating Labs

Space-Time for Knowledge Organization Lab
University of Vienna

GeoKEA Lab
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Geospatial Artificial Intelligence Lab
University of Buffalo, SUNY

Geospatial Data Science Lab
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Urban and Movement Analytics Lab
University of Canterbury, Christchurch New Zealand

Romm, Daniel; Verma, Priyanka; Qiang, Dan; Sadeghi, Farzaneh; Zhu, Jenny; Johnston, Mackenzie; McKenzie, Grant

Urban mobility responses to wildfire smoke-related air quality advisories in Montréal, Canada Journal Article

In: Health & Place, vol. 101, iss. September 2026, no. 103736, 2026.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Verma, Priyanka; McKenzie, Grant

When cities look alike but move differently: comparing urban regions using micromobility trip patterns Journal Article

In: Journal of Location Based Services, 2026.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Qiang, Dan; McKenzie, Grant

How events move us: Estimating the causal effects of special events on shared micromobility Journal Article

In: Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis, vol. 10, iss. 1, 2025.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

@article{nokey,

title = {How events move us: Estimating the causal effects of special events on shared micromobility},

author = {Dan Qiang and Grant McKenzie},

url = {http://grantmckenzie.com/academics/Qiang2025b.pdf},

doi = {10.1007/s41651-025-00244-1},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-12-05},

urldate = {2025-12-05},

journal = {Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis},

volume = {10},

issue = {1},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {Special events, such as festivals, parades, and protests, can cause sudden surges or disruptions in travel demand, thereby placing stress on transportation systems. As shared micromobility becomes an increasingly important part of urban transportation, understanding how these events affect its ridership is crucial for ensuring safety, efficiency, and sustainability. In this study, we investigate the causal impacts of various event types by applying Double Machine Learning (DML) to high-resolution shared micromobility trip data (e-bikes and e-scooters) and multi-source event records in Washington, D.C. These events include government-authorized large events, independently organized small events, and government-registered protests. Our results show that many events have far stronger actual influences on shared micromobility than correlational analysis suggests, as confounding factors can mask their actual impact. For instance, festivals show four to seven times greater impact under causal estimation. We also find that the increase in gas prices suppresses discretionary travel, resulting in reduced shared micromobility usage during events. Another key insight is the different demand mechanisms: large events interact with temporal and built environment features to boost ridership, whereas small events are primarily influenced by temporal features, such as event duration and weather, with little influence from infrastructure factors. These findings highlight the need for tailored policies, including infrastructure investment for large events and operational incentives for smaller ones. This research provides a causal foundation for urban mobility planning, supporting the development of more resilient and efficient transportation systems in event-dense urban areas.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Romm, Daniel; Chavez, Jose Arturo Jasso; Kinman, Lexi; Salsabilian, Pegah; McKenzie, Grant; Manaugh, Kevin

The Cars are Going to be Alright: Examining Micromobility Infrastructure Space Allocation and Potential Improvement Scenarios in Montréal Journal Article

In: Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research, no. 100071, 2025.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

@article{Romm2025,

title = {The Cars are Going to be Alright: Examining Micromobility Infrastructure Space Allocation and Potential Improvement Scenarios in Montréal},

author = {Daniel Romm and Jose Arturo Jasso Chavez and Lexi Kinman and Pegah Salsabilian and Grant McKenzie and Kevin Manaugh},

doi = {10.1016/j.jcmr.2025.100071},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-06-07},

urldate = {2025-06-03},

journal = {Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research},

number = {100071},

abstract = {Many cities today are redesigning their streetscapes to redress the historical privilege afforded to the automobile in planning and policy. Much streetscape redesign is around transport infrastructure space, which largely prioritizes car travel and marginalizes other travel modes. Attempts by planners and policy makers to this end often are met with public opposition by advocates of the car, protesting about losing space on the street. This is empirically investigated with the case of Montréal by determining the allocation of street space to transport infrastructures, deriving measures of infrastructure space per traveller, and devising an Equal Infrastructure Allocation score to measure the imbalance between infrastructure provision per travel mode. Per borough, the distribution of transport infrastructure is examined, alongside correlations with demographic, socio-economic, land use, and crash rate variables. Potential scenarios of significant micromobility infrastructure improvement are modelled to test how infrastructure space apportionment per mode changes. This investigation discovers that even large improvements to micromobility infrastructure have a minor effect on space allocated to automobiles. Equal Infrastructure Allocation score and associated indicators are presented as useful tools for planners and policy makers implementing micromobility infrastructure projects, to better communicate with the public and address potential opposition.  },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Members

Grant McKenzie

Daniel Romm

Mitra Kashani

William Arent

Jenny Zhu

Honours Students

Matthew Nichols

Matthew Nichols

Research Assistants

Alumni

Priyanka Verma

Dan Qiang

Mikael Brunila

Hongyu Zhang

Mackenzie Johnston

Clara Féré

Emilio Leto

Hugo Steiner

Aïna Rajaonisaona

Talia Cohen-Fette

Jonah Levitt

Maya Shyevitch

Emily Chen

Siyuan Chen

Jeremi Campagna

Simon Savaria

Anoushka Oke

Nicholas Foisy

Kevin Nam

Elodie Ithier

Collaborating Labs

Friendly Cities Lab

Space-Time for Knowledge Organization Lab

GeoKEA Lab

Geospatial Artificial Intelligence Lab

Geospatial Data Science Lab

Urban and Movement Analytics Lab