How do you get around Toronto?
The rapidly expanding digital economy – think Uber, Lyft and Toronto’s own InstaRyde – has given us more options to get around this city than ever before. But what kind of impact do these technologies have on the future of urban transportation?
An Arts & Science undergraduate student researching ride-hailing is helping to advance understanding of the opportunities that exist for this industry in Canada.
Students interested in enrolling in the Research Opportunities Program for the 2018 summer term or the 2018-19 fall-winter terms are encouraged to review the current course offerings and eligibility requirements, and submit an application by March 11, 2018. All Arts & Science students who have completed no less than four credits, but no more than 14, by September 2018 are eligible to apply to the program.
Monica Brondholt, a second-year economics student, has been working with Shauna Brail, director and associate professor, teaching stream in the Urban Studies Program at Innis College and senior associate in the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, as part of a Faculty of Arts & Science Research Opportunities Program (ROP) project. They are looking at ways the platform economy is leading to changes in urban transportation, particularly with the convergence of ride-hailing and autonomous vehicles.
For her part in the project, Brondholt created a series of city and company profiles based on the idea that the so-called “tech cities” leading the way in ride-hailing and autonomous vehicles have a concentration of related factors, like investment, partnerships, testing, and growth of talent. She learned how to combine economic data around GDP per capita and the number of start-ups per 1,000 people with city data such as size, population growth forecast and rank within its country.
Research Opportunities Program deciding factor in choosing U of T
“I’ve always been interested in research, so the idea of being able to witness firsthand and even conduct my own academic research was what really drew me to the Research Opportunities Program,” said Brondholt. “Professor Brail’s project gave me the chance to apply some of the knowledge I’ve gained in my economics courses to a very pertinent issue.”
Participating in cutting-edge research as part of ROP projects such as this one gives Arts & Science undergraduate students the opportunity to develop hands-on research experience, receive mentorship from established scholars and be part of a research team.
Brondholt first learned about the Research Opportunities Program when she visited U of T as a prospective student. It was a deciding factor in her choice to attend U of T.
It’s such a unique opportunity; I knew right away that it was something I wanted to do.
“It’s such a unique opportunity; I knew right away that it was something I wanted to do,” said Brondholt. “It’s very rare to get the chance to work so closely with a professor and contribute to important research while doing your undergraduate degree, and the guidance and advice you receive along the way is invaluable. This research experience has not only given me insight into the many components that are required to produce a successful academic paper, it has also been a great, hands-on opportunity for me to develop my skills as a researcher.”
This research is also part of the Innovation Policy Lab’s Creating Digital Opportunity project, which involves more than 20 investigators at 16 universities across Canada. The goal of the partnership is to understand how Canada can use evolving digital technologies to promote our economic prosperity.
“Ride-hailing is very much an industry that thrives in urban centres and has potential to solve some urban challenges, but it has potential to add to them too. It’s a fascinating area of study and it’s changing very rapidly,” says Brail. “This is one of the most exciting research projects I’ve led.”