SCC-IRG Track 1: Preparing for Future Pandemics: Subway Crowd Management to Minimize Airborne Transmission of Respiratory Viruses (Way-CARE)

这个智能和互联社区项目的重点是通过开发人群管理社会技术系统，加强过境社区面对公共卫生灾害的准备和复原力。大流行期间，全球公共交通客流量大幅下降，地铁系统如何应对并从未来的大流行中恢复过来？公共交通，特别是地铁，对城市的经济活力和环境可持续性至关重要。这项研究将提升美国在从流行病中恢复的领导地位和经济竞争力，并将改善在城市中生活、工作和旅行的人们的社会、经济和环境福祉。本研究的目标是为公共交通社区（即机构、工作人员和乘客）提供一个社会技术系统，“Way-CARE”（地铁人群管理以最大限度地减少呼吸道病毒的空气传播），该系统：1)使公共交通乘客能够做出明智的决定并相应地调整出行行为；2)为参与规划和决策的交通运输机构提供建议，以减轻病毒传播给乘客和工作人员的风险。低收入社区的人受到的影响最大，由于缺乏被认为更安全的出行方式，他们处于不利地位。因此，本研究的广泛影响包括帮助确定需求，目标资源，并制定更有效的方法，以更好地确保低收入社区居民的健康和保健，可及性和包容性以及经济活力。配套的教育计划旨在通过外展项目扩大弱势群体对工程的参与，包括针对哈莱姆公立学校教师和K-12学生的项目，以及年度学生数据科学挑战。大流行过后，地铁系统内真正的健康风险和未来的通勤模式尚不清楚。项目的技术推进器是将传感、人群和气流建模、公共卫生知识在微观尺度上应用于地铁人群管理。将开发空气传播和流行病学耦合模型，以解释影响呼吸道病毒传播机会的微尺度过程（飞沫和气溶胶的运输）。该奖项的社会催化剂是将行为科学证据整合到旅行选择和政策制定中。大都会交通管理局（MTA）和两个当地的乘客社区（哈莱姆和哥伦比亚）将参与该项目的社会技术层面的开发和评估。为了确保项目的成功，提出了一个两阶段的评估计划来试点系统和技术。将在参与社区的投入下调查可转移性和可扩展性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Smart and Connected Communities (S&CC) project focuses on strengthening the preparedness and resilience of transit communities facing public health disasters through the development of a sociotechnical system for crowd management. Following the substantial drop in public transportation ridership across the globe during the pandemic, how can subway systems respond to and recover from a future pandemic? Mass transit, especially subways, are essential to the economic viability and environmental sustainability of cities. This research will elevate U.S. leadership and economic competitiveness in recovery from pandemics, and will improve the social, economic, and environmental well-being of those who live, work, and travel within cities. The goal of this study is to equip public transit communities (i.e., agencies, workers, and riders) with a sociotechnical system, “Way-CARE" (Subway Crowd Management to Minimize Airborne Transmission of REspiratory Viruses) that: 1) enables transit riders to make informed decisions and adapt travel behavior accordingly; and 2) provides transit agencies engaged in planning and policymaking with recommendations for mitigating virus transmission risks to riders and workers. People in low-income communities are among the most impacted and are in a disadvantaged position due to reduced accessibility to perceived safer travel modes. As such, the broader impacts of this study include helping identify needs, target resources, and develop more effective approaches to better ensure health and wellness, accessibility and inclusivity, and economic vitality for residents of low-income communities. The accompanying educational plan aims to broaden participation in engineering of underrepresented groups via outreach programs, including programs for Harlem public school teachers and K-12 students, as well as annual student data science challenges.True health risks inside subway systems and future commuting patterns are unknown after the pandemic. The technological propeller of the project is the integration of sensing, crowd and airflow modeling, and public health knowledge on a microscale applied to subway crowd management. Coupled airborne dispersion and epidemiological models will be developed that account for microscale processes (transport of droplets and aerosols) affecting respiratory virus transmission opportunities. The social catalyst of the award is the integration of behavioral science evidence to inform travel choices and policy making. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and two local rider communities (Harlem and Columbia) will be engaged in the development and assessment of the sociotechnical dimensions of the project. To assure project success, a 2-phase evaluation plan is presented to pilot the system and the technologies. Transferability and scalability will be investigated with input from the engaged communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.