SCC-IRG Track 1: Empathy and AI: Towards Equitable Microtransit

SCC-IRG 第 1 轨道：同理心和人工智能：迈向公平的微交通

• 批准号: 2325720
• 负责人: Eleni Bardaka
• 金额: $ 180万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2027-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2325720&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SCC; IRG; Track; Empathy; AI

This Smart and Connected Communities - Integrative Research Grant (SCC-IRG) Track 1 project will develop and evaluate smart, community-supported solutions for improving efficiency and equity in public microtransit systems. Poor transit service in small cities and towns around the US severely challenges the everyday lives of their many disadvantaged residents. Although public microtransit, which provides point-to-point service in small vehicles, has recently emerged as a promising solution, it remains ineffective at accommodating the rising demand without additional resources (vehicles and drivers). This project seeks to improve system performance equitably, through increased ridesharing and shifting flexible trips to off-peak periods. To this end, it will investigate techniques to motivate microtransit users to act prosocially (volunteer to shift one’s trip time to accommodate the high load of work trips, cooperate with the request to walk more to share a ride with a disabled user, reciprocate after learning that one previously benefited from another user) by evoking feelings of empathy towards other community members. Through a program dedicated to commuters, this project will also provide reliable and stress-free transportation to disadvantaged workers and students. These innovations will result in fewer unserved microtransit trip requests and cancelations and therefore lead to quality-of-life improvements, including reduced wage loss and missed medical appointments for riders. The prosocial acts motivated through this research will strengthen community membership, emotional safety, and sense of belonging. This project has the potential to benefit the thousands of small US communities that lack access to employment, health care, and other critical destinations. The awarded research will create new paradigms for facilitating prosocial behavior in sociotechnical systems, moving away from traditional pricing mechanisms and incentives. Empathy-building messaging based on real-time user information and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), will enable and motivate prosocial behavior in microtransit at a low cognitive burden while accounting for individual needs and preferences. To increase ridesharing and operational efficiency, microtransit algorithms will be developed for the operation of a first-of-its-kind hybrid system that integrates a commuter program for work and school trips on a fixed, routine schedule with both on-demand and other trips scheduled in advance. This project will engage with both governmental and nongovernmental organizations to understand stakeholder needs and improve stakeholder acceptance of the technology and will advance our understanding of the contributions of community-based organizations and education in the success of smart and connected 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.

该智能互联社区 - 综合研究补助金 (SCC-IRG) 第 1 轨道项目将开发和评估社区支持的智能解决方案，以提高公共微交通系统的效率和公平性，这是美国各地小城镇糟糕的交通服务面临的严峻挑战。尽管通过小型车辆提供点对点服务的公共微型交通最近已成为一种有前途的解决方案，但如果没有额外的资源（车辆和车辆），它仍然无法满足不断增长的需求。该项目旨在通过增加拼车和将灵活的出行时间转移到非高峰时段来公平地提高系统性能。为此，它将研究激励微交通用户采取亲社会行动的技术（自愿改变出行时间以适应出行时间）。高负荷的工作旅行，配合更多步行与残疾用户共享乘车的要求，在得知一个人以前从另一位用户那里受益后进行回报），通过专门的计划唤起对其他社区成员的同理心。对于通勤者来说，该项目还将为弱势工人和学生提供可靠且无压力的交通，这些创新将减少无服务的微交通出行请求和取消，从而改善生活质量，包括减少工资损失和错过医疗预约。通过这项研究激发的亲社会行为将增强社区成员资格、情感安全和归属感。该项目有可能使数以千计缺乏就业、医疗保健和其他重要目的地的美国小型社区受益。获奖的研究将为以下领域创造新的范式：促进社会技术系统中的亲社会行为，摆脱基于实时用户信息并由人工智能（AI）支持的传统定价机制和激励措施，将在低认知负担的情况下实现和激励微交通中的亲社会行为。为了提高乘车共享和运营效率，将开发微交通算法来运营首个混合系统，该系统将按固定的日常时间表进行工作和学校旅行的通勤计划与按需和该项目将与政府和非组织合作，以了解利益相关者的需求并提高利益相关者对技术的接受度，并将加深我们对社区政府组织和教育对智能和互联的成功所做贡献的理解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。