Studying urban resource flows for strategic metabolic transitions (2022-present)
Human use of biophysical resources (materials, energy, land) has risen dramatically and drives global environmental change. At the city-level, the study of urban metabolism (UM) can aid the understanding of resource use in cities. UM is an accounting framework whose goal is to quantify the inflows, outflows, and accumulation of resources, such as materials, energy and water, in a metropolitan area. The study of resource stocks and flow exchanges in cities offers a perspective for urban systems analysis, and to take deliberate next steps towards achieving self-sufficiency, efficiency, and resilience. This project is in collaboration with the University of Victoria, Canada.

Exploring the potential for crowdshipping using public transport (2020-present)
Crowdshipping encourages members of the public to pick up and drop off parcels, ideally en route, along their pre-committed journeys. Individuals, such as public transport commuters, can be engaged to fulfil deliveries as “crowdshippers”. In this study we explore to potential to tap on excess passenger transport capacity to enable more sustainable movement of freight. This work was  featured in a Sage Perspectives blog.

Data-driven assessment and design for urban vibrancy (2021-2023)
Urban vibrancy concerns the intensity of human activities within cities, reflecting the success of a neighbourhood or district in promoting social interactions and socio-economic activities. The research team would like to investigate the meshing of available urban datasets to better characterise and monitor urban vibrancy. Understanding this can inform the planning of amenities needed at the district level, and aid with urban and transport planning. The project will be centred on select districts in Singapore. This project is in collaboration with the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL), as an initiative between ETH Zurich and Singapore NRF.

Life cycle assessment of diesel and alternative fuel trucks (2020-2021)
We assessed the life cycle greenhouse gas impact of diesel, hybrid diesel, battery electric vs. hydrogen fuel cell goods vehicle (lorry) in Singapore. The real-world drive cycle observed in operating trucks is taken into account.

Point of Interest data validation – case of an urban area (2020-2021)
Given the availability of geospatial information, POI data has been used in a range of urban planning and transport application areas. However, there is considerable uncertainty in the data quality. This study aims to review different POI validation methods that evaluate different aspects of data quality and identify a standard set of validation metrics that can be applied to different POI datasets. These are implemented to five different POI datasets within a study area in Singapore.

Public acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles (2020-2021)
This project sets out to better understand commuter perceptions and acceptance towards AVs, which would facilitate the adoption of those technologies into the Singapore public transport system and enhance the commuter experience. This project is in collaboration with the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC) and sponsored by the Public Transport Council (PTC).

Designing for Adoption of Autonomous Mobility Services (2019-2020)
Public acceptance of autonomous vehicles is a possible barrier to plans to roll-out AVs as part of public transportation. Available findings on the acceptance of AVs suggest that the public tend to be skeptical of travelling in or alongside AVs. The objectives of this project are to understand the adoption and design considerations surrounding Autonomous Mobility Services in Singapore. This project is in collaboration with the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC), SUTD-MIT International Design Centre (IDC) and Daimler.

Last-mile Urban Logistics Solutions to address E-commerce Growth (2018-2020)
The rise of e-commerce is changing the way goods are moved, particularly in an urban context. One can expect greater disaggregation of shipments as well as increases in delivery frequencies, which may be particularly disruptive to cities. In this study, we propose to collect data and develop models to design urban logistics management strategies to cope with changing goods transport needs. In collaboration with Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Future of Urban Mobility (SMART FM), UPS Singapore and Rytle.

Urban Freight and Heavy Vehicles Study (2016-2019)
Optimizing urban freight transport is a complex socio-technical problem that concerns urban planning, transportation system planning, and infrastructure planning. In this project, we collect data and develop models that assess the traffic and environmental impacts of goods movement in a city. In collaboration with SMART, and partner Singapore government agencies, URA, LTA and JTC.

Collaborative Urban Logistics (2015-2018)
This project evaluates collaborative urban logistics solutions targeting goods deliveries to retail malls, in particular (i) centralized goods receiving stations (in-mall distribution), and (2) offsite freight consolidation centres. See data stories collected from retail mall loading bays here. Project partner: IMDA.

Perceptions and Planning for Future Transportation Technologies (2017-2018)
In this project, we design focus group studies to better understand commuter reactions and attitudes towards future technologies that are expected to enter the Singapore public transportation system landscape in the next 10 years. Project partner: PTC.

Uncertainty and Variation in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) (2014-2017)
We examine ways to characterize, propagate and communicate uncertainty and variation in current LCA methodology. A data-driven approach is used to construct LCA models of automobiles and building cooling systems.

Alternative Technologies to Diesel (2016)
Assessed the cost and benefits of alternatives to diesel vehicles in Singapore that can reduce local air emissions. Project partners: MEWR and NEA.

Impact of a Delivery Point Network for Urban E-Commerce Deliveries (2016)
With the growth in e-commerce, we evaluated the characteristics of e-commerce deliveries and effectiveness of delivery points such as lockers or retail stores to receive parcels. Project partner: Ninja Van.

Foresight Study on Urban Mobility: Moving Singapore in 2040 (2014-2016)
A study on the future of urban mobility and transportation in Singapore, including an integrated vision for the transport, community and work. One of a series of foresight studies at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC), examining the Future of Cities.

Singapore Road Vehicle Fleet Model (2014)
Vehicle fleet modeling is a useful tool to analyze the dynamics of the rolling stock and their environmental impact at a macroscopic level. A fleet model is constructed for Singapore to explore the environmental impacts of various transportation policies.

Regional Variation in Electric Vehicle (EV) Emissions (2010-2011)
Replacing an internal combustion engine with an electric drivetrain can reduce tailpipe and local emissions. However, the global warming impact may worsen if there are significant carbon emissions upstream during power generation. We compared EVs used across the U.S. and found that not all EVs are green.

Approaches to meet U.S. Fuel Economy Targets (2008-2010)
New fuel economy standards require new U.S. passenger vehicles to achieve at least 34.1 miles per gallon (MPG) by 2016, up from 28.8 MPG in 2010. In this study, the magnitude, combinations and timings of changes required in vehicles to meet the new standards were evaluated.

Material and Energy Impacts of Vehicle Lightweighting (2005-2010)
For a typical car, every 10% reduction in vehicle mass can cut fuel consumption by about 7%. This project explored the material and energy implications of weight reduction on a vehicle life-cycle and vehicle fleet system-level basis.

Lynette Cheah’s Google Scholar profile

On transport policy:

• Miller, K., S. Chng, L. Cheah, 2022. Understanding acceptance of shared autonomous vehicles among people with different mobility and communication needs. Travel Behaviour and Society, 29:200-210.Link

• Zahraei, M., H. Kurniawan, L. Cheah, 2019. A Foresight Study on Urban Mobility: Singapore in 2040. Foresight 22(1) 37-52. Link

• ​Bandivadekar, A., K. Bodek, L. Cheah, C. Evans, T. Groode, J. Heywood, E. Kasseris, M. Kromer, and M. Weiss. 2008. On the Road in 2035: Reducing Transportation’s Petroleum Consumption and GHG Emissions. LFEE 2008-05 RP. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. Link

On urban freight:

• Zhang, M., L. Cheah, 2023. Prioritising Outlier Parcels for Public Transport-Based Crowdshipping in Urban Logistics. Transportation Research Record.

• Cheah, L., Q. Huang, 2021. Comparative Carbon Footprint Assessment of Cross-border E-commerce Shipping Options. Transportation Research Record. Link

• Dalla Chiara, G., L. Cheah, C. Azevedo, M. Ben-Akiva, 2020. A policy-sensitive model of parking choice for commercial vehicles in urban areas. Transportation Science. Link

• Dalla Chiara, G., L. Cheah, 2017. Data stories from loading bays. European Transport Research Review (2017) 9:50. Link

On life cycle assessments and industrial ecology:

• Yeow, L., Y. Yan, L. Cheah, 2022. Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Medium-duty Trucks: A Singapore Case Study. Transportation Research Part D 105, April 2022, 103258. Link

• Arora, M., L. Yeow, L. Cheah, S. Derrible, 2022. Assessing water circularity in cities. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 178 (2022). Link

• Milovanoff, A., L. Minet, L. Cheah, I. D. Posen, H. L. MacLean, R. Balasubramanian, 2021. Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation Pathways for Urban Passenger Land Transport under Ambitious Climate Targets. Environmental Science & Technology 55(12):8236-8246. Link

• Arora, M., F. Raspall, L. Cheah, A. Silva, 2020. Buildings and the Circular Economy: Estimating Urban Mining, Recovery and Reuse Potential of Building Components. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 154 (2020). Link

• Yeow, L., L. Cheah. 2019. Using Spatially Explicit Commodity Flow and Truck Activity Data to Map Urban Material Flows. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 2019; 1– 12. Link

• Noshadravan, A., L. Cheah, R. Roth, F. Freire, L. Dias, J. Gregory. 2015. Stochastic comparative assessment of environmental life cycle for conventional and electric vehicles. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 20(6): 854-864. Link

As part of a study on urban freight deliveries, we surveyed loading bay activities at urban retail malls or shopping centres in Singapore. Explore visualization of the data collected here. For more details, see our paper, Data Stories from Loading Bays.

We tracked and surveyed 600 Singapore heavy truck drivers on their daily activities, and applied dimensionality reduction to uncover key activity patterns. For more details, see our 2018 Transportation Research Record paper.

Using truck activity data from a sample of trucks carrying construction materials, we are able to derive a spatial representation of the net accumulation and removal of material in the city, providing insight on urban material flows. See poster presented at Gordon Research Conference on Industrial Ecology, 2018 and open access JIE paper.