Jeff Casello

Degrees

Ph.D. Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, United States, 2003

M.Sc. Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, United States, 2000

M.Sc. Transportation Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States, 1996

B.SE. Civil Engineering Systems, University of Pennsylvania, United States, 1992

Contact information

Curriculum Vitae

Academic honours

• 2015 - Outstanding Performance Award, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo
• 2013 - Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Waterloo
• 1999-2001 - George Krambles Transit Foundation Scholarship
• 1999-2000 - Penn Prize for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching
• 1999 - Richard K. Dentel Memorial Award
• 1995 - University Transportation Centers Program (UTCP) Region II Outstanding Student
• 1993, 1996 - New York State Department of Transportation Engineering Excellence Award

Research interests

• Urban transportation systems
• Public transport system planning, design and operation
• Multimodal transportation modeling
• Transportation and land use impacts
• Urban spatial analysis
• Geographic Information Systems applications

Research grants/projects

• Exploring the impacts of transit passes on students' behaviour

  • Funded by: City of Kingston

  • The goal of the research is to understand how the provision of transit passes to high school students influences their travel, and the travel dynamics for the households in which they live. Of particular interest are questions:

    • Does the provision of transit passes provide increased access to recreation, employment and other opportunities?
    • Do students with transit passes experience greater travel independence and, as a result, rely less on chauffeuring by parents and others?
    • If the above holds true, do households experience travel cost savings in terms of both time and money?
• Application of smart-phones to gather travel behavior in the City of Edmonton
  • Funded by: The City of Edmonton in partnership with R.A. Malatest
  • This research project presents the opportunity to commercialize Ph.D. research conducted at the University of Waterloo.
  • Data – origin, destination, mode, and path – were gathered for a large sample of households and travelers in Edmonton to inform the development of a travel forecasting model.
  • The passively collected smart-phone data were used to calibrate and validate information gathered through traditional travel diaries.
• iCity Urban Informatics for Sustainable Metropolitan Growth
  • Funded by: Ontario Research Foundation (ORF).
  • Grant led by the University of Toronto (Eric Miller)
  • Research aimed at understanding how innovations in travel data collection (both methods and specific information) can better inform decision-making to advance sustainable transportation and cities.Specific questions to be addressed in Waterloo include:
    • How will the investment in Light Rail Transit (LRT) change overall Regional travel patterns?
    • How important will the Region’s Central Transit Corridor (CTC) become for attracting trips?
    • How will travel within the CTC, especially tours, evolve over time as the density and diversity of land uses change?
• Light Rail and Core Area Intensification – Unpacking Causal Relationships
  • Funded by: SSHRC (Partnership Development Grant)
  • PI is Dawn Parker, School of Planning
  • Much research has been conducted on the relationship between land use and transportation, particularly the influence of land use investments on density.This research explores these relationships in the Region of Waterloo as a result of the LRT project.This research takes a combined approach to try and demonstrate causality of land use impacts by:
    • Using hedonic pricing techniques to isolate the impacts of proximity to the LRT on land / home values;
    • Interview developers to understand (quantitatively and qualitatively) their perceptions of LRT on market dynamics;
    • Interview home buyers, home sellers, and renters to determine the perceived value of access resulting from LRT.
• Sustainable Transportation Modeling
  • Funded by: NSERC (Discovery Grant)
  • Research supported significant development of novel data collection and analysis techniques, particularly related to sustain transportation modes – walking, cycling and transit.

• Improving transit representation in travel forecasting models

  • Funded by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
  • The research program develops mathematical methods to represent the dynamic relationship among transit frequency, ridership, and fiscal constraints. The models generated can be used as part of, or in conjunction with, traditional travel forecasting models. The research developed leads to much more robust transit modeling capabilities for regions, cities and transit agencies, allowing governments to invest scarce resources in order to achieve the economic, social and environmental goals associated with greater transit ridership.

Contact Jeff Casello for more information on research opportunities.

Graduate student supervision

Recent/key publications

• Nour, A., B. Hellinga and J. Casello. 2016 Transportation Mode Classification Based on Smart-Phone data:  Enhancing Accuracy Using Spatial Statistics and GIS.  Journal of Transportation Geography Vol. 51, pp. 36-44. 
• Casello J. 2015. Assessment of Climate Risks and Adaptation Practices for the Canadian Transportation Sector – Urban Regions, Natural Resources Canada, in press.
• Casello, J., W. Towns, J. Belangér, and S. Kassiedass. Public Engagement in Public Transportation Projects. 2015. Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No.2537 pp. 88-95.
• Casello, J., G. Lewis, D. Santiago, and K. Yeung. 2014. A Transit Technology Selection Model. Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 50-75.
• Casello, J. and V. Usyukov. 2014. Modeling Cyclists' Route Choice Based on GPS Data.  Journal of the Transportation Research Board No. 2430 pp. 155-161.
• Lopez, A., J. Casello, A. Molinero and D. Cotera. 2013. Evaluating Private Bus Operators’ Willingness to Participate in Transit Improvements in Mexico.  Journal of the Transportation Research Board No. 2394, pp. 119-127.
• Lopez, A., J. Casello, A. Molinero, and D. Rodriguez Santiago. 2012. The Influence of Ownership and Business Models on Achieving Transit Improvements, accepted, Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
• Lewis, J.L., M. Groulx and J. Casello. 2012. Effective Environmental Visualization for Urban Planning and Design: Interdisciplinary Reflections on a Rapidly Evolving Technology, accepted, Journal of Urban Technology
• Casello, J., K. Rewa, A. Nour. 2012. An Analysis of Empirical Evidence of Cyclists' Route Choice and their Implications for Planning.  91st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington DC
• Casello, J., A. Nour, K. Rewa, and J. Hill. 2011. An Analysis of Stated Preference and GPS Data for Bicycle Travel Forecasting. 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington DC
• Simard, S., E. Springate and J. Casello. 2011. The Development and Deployment of GIS Tools to Facilitate Transit Network Design and Operational Evaluation, Journal of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association Vol. 23, No.1 pp. 41-51.
• Finkleman, J., J. Casello and L. Fu. 2011. Empirical Evidence from the Greater Toronto Area on the Acceptability and Impacts of HOT Lanes, Transport Policy Vol. 18, Issue 6, pp. 814-824.
• Lopez, A., J. Casello and A. Molinero. 2011. Private Bus Operators' Objectives in the Evaluation for Transit Investments in Developing Countries: A Conceptual Framework, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2239, pp. 1-8.
• Salek, S., R. Noorozi, J. Casello and B. Hellinga. 2011. A Method for Predicting the Mean and Variance of Transit Segment and Route Travel Times, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2217, pp. 30-37.
• Saavedra, M., B. Hellinga, and J. Casello. 2011. An Automated Quality Assurance Methodology for Archived Transit Data from AVL-APC Systems.  In press, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Washington DC
• The economic impacts of transit investment: A national survey (PDF)
• Nour, A., J. Casello and B. Hellinga (2010). An Anxiety-Based Formulation to Estimate the Generalized Cost of Transit Travel Time, 89th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington DC.
• Casello, J. and Vuchic, V.R. (2009) Urban Transit, Chapter 16 in Meyer, M. ed. Transportation Planning Handbook 3rd Edition, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington, DC.
• Casello, J., A. Nour and B. Hellinga (2009). Quantifying the Impact of Transit Reliability on User Costs, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2112, pp. 136-141.
• Casello, J. and B. Hellinga (2008) Impacts of Express Bus Service on Passenger Demand, Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 1-23.
• Casello, J. (2007) Transit Competitiveness in a Polycentric Metropolitan Region, Transportation Research Part A, Vol. 41 No.1 pp.19-40.

Courses taught

• PLAN 203: Transportation planning
• PLAN 480: Theory and practice of planning in the United Kingdom (exchange to Oxford, UK)
• PLAN 478 / CIVE 440: Transit planning and operations
• PLAN 484: Physical infrastructure and planning
• PLAN 678: Infrastructure planning
• CIVE 240: Engineering and sustainable development
• CIVE 641: Transportation systems analysis