AR BRT: A Mixed-Reality Data Visualization & Simulation Platform for Participatory Policy-making

Engagement Design & Execution, UX Lead & Front-End Development  |  MIT Media Lab x Mobility Futures Collaborative x Barr Foundation  (2015)

Thesis Project for Master in City Planning (Advisor: Chris Zegras)

BACKGROUND  | Rapid urbanization and industrialization around the globe have brought upon urban policymakers complex challenges such as chronic congestion, environmental pollution and socio-economic inequalities. With the increase adoption and sophistication of the social media and personal electronic devices, citizens are increasingly voicing their expectations and hear those of others from near and afar on what they expect of their city governments. The planning & policymaking of urban environment and transit systems, due to their complexity and requirement of proprietary tools, have been by-and-large a process restricted to those who are deemed as “domain experts”.  As citizens demand more transparency of and participation in the urban process, how might policymakers reshape their traditional decision-making process, to not just align expectations of diverse interests, but also make more informed policies by harvesting relevant data and collective intelligence? 

PROCESS  |  Design, development, testing and deployment of a multi-scale, physical-digital parametric platform that combines LEGO bricks, Interactive Data Visualization (AngularJS, d3.js and Processing), and real-time, cloud-based regional Accessibility calculation.  The platform enables people to build transit (e.g. Bus Rapid Transit) and multi-modal scenarios in Boston and obtain impacts such as comparisons of travel boundaries, access to opportunities, emissions, and capital & operating costs. 

RESULT  | Deployed in October 2015 at a series of 6 public engagement workshops organized in collaboration with the Barr Foundation at the Roxbury Innovation Center, Boston.  53 participants from a range of advocacy, policy neighborhood and professional organizations convened and discussed the future of public transit in Boston using Bus Rapid Transit as case study.  Measured result showed positive effect of the platform on the participants’ learning of public transit issues and thoughtful reflections of the process itself. 

Project Site: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/CityscopeBostonBRT/overview/

PUBLICATIONS

  • “Tangible Tools for Public Transportation Planning: Public Involvement and Learning for Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Design” in Transportation Research Record, –  Co-author, 2018

  • “Using Legos as a Legitimate Urban Planning Tool” in CityLab by Linda Poon – Interview, 2015