New technologies, travel modes and passenger needs: understanding and predicting the future of rail travel

铁路是一种环境上可持续的模式，如果能够适当地满足广大旅客的需求，可以有助于应对气候紧急情况。了解这些需求以及随着新技术的出现它们可能如何变化，将使网络铁路和铁路运营公司等基础设施提供商能够积极主动地寻求最大限度地发挥铁路的潜力。越来越多的个性化出行解决方案，如自动驾驶汽车和自动驾驶飞机，对城市的宜居性提出了公平性和影响的重要问题;它们对拥堵有什么影响？它们是否很好地利用了空间（例如停车场、着陆场）;它们的费用是否排除了社会的某些部分？这些问题的答案将需要确保未来提供负担得起的，可访问的，和需求响应的交通。该项目中使用的核心工具将来自经济学和社会学领域。后者将通知定性数据收集，学生将设计，并将通知定性数据收集。经济学模型将应用于数据分析阶段，以及数据科学技术，使学生能够管理大型数据库。该项目有一个重要的地理方面，涉及对城市/农村地区之间差异的理解以及在不同背景下对空间的使用，这可能需要地理技术。

Rail is an environmentally sustainable mode that can be instrumental in addressing the climate emergency if appropriately tailored to the needs of a wide range of travellers. Understanding such needs and how they might be changing as new technologies emerge will allow infrastructure providers like Network Rail and rail operating companies to be proactive in seeking to maximise rail's potential. Increasingly customised travel solutions such as AVs and AAM pose important questions of fairness and impact on cities'liveability; what is their impact on congestion?; are they a good use of space (e.g. parking, landing pads); does their cost exclude some parts of society? Answers to these questions will be needed to ensure the future provision of affordable, accessible, and demand-responsive transport.The core tools used within this project will be from the areas of Economics and Sociology. The latter will inform the qualitative data collection, that the student will design, and that will inform the qualitative data collection. Economics models will be applied in the data analysis phase, as well as Data Science techniques that will enable the student to manage large databases. There is an important geographical aspect to the project, concerning the understanding of differences between urban/rural areas and use of space in different context, which will likely require techniques from Geography.