Junfeng Jiao

Associate Professor
A grayscale map with orange highlights sprinkled throughout it with the text "Transit Deserts USA" on top
Screenshot of the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program website
An overhead shot of a streetscape with the text "Connecting a Disconnected Community: Community Hub for Smart Mobility, Austin, Texas" laid on top
Junfeng Jiao Work
Junfeng Jiao Work
Junfeng Jiao Work
Junfeng Jiao Work
Smart Cities Book Cover
Shared Mobility Book Cover
Ethical A.I. website screengrab
Junfeng Jiao Work
Junfeng Jiao Work

Junfeng Jiao is an Associate Professor in the Community and Regional Planning Program at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the founding director of Urban Information Lab, director of Texas Smart Cities, director of UT Ethical AI program, and a founding member of UT Austin's Good Systems Grand Challenge. 

His research focuses on Smart Cities, Urban Informatics, and Ethical/Generative AI. He uses different information technologies to quantify urban infrastructures and their influences on people’s behaviors. He first coined the term "transit deserts" and measured it in all U.S. cities. Using different machine learning methods, Dr. Jiao investigated and quantified the spatial-temporal patterns of various shared mobility activities (Uber, Scooter, and Bike Sharing) in major U.S. cities. Currently, he is leading three smart city projects: NSF: CIVIC Challenge Community Hub for Smart Mobility (Smart Hub); NSF NRT: AI-Convergent, Responsible, Ethical, Applied Training Experience for Roboticists (Ethical AI); and A Good System for Smart City. He is also a Co-PI for USDOT funded the Center for Climate-Smart Transportation at the Johns Hopkins University and a Co-PI for USHUD funded The Equitable Technologies for Housing Innovation Center at UT Austin.  

Teaming with colleagues at the University of Houston, Dr. Jiao has expanded his Smart City research to the Houston area. As a Co-PI, he received NSF funding to combat the Food Deserts problems with AI technology. The project title is "NSF Convergence Accelerator Track J: Artificial-Intelligence-Based Decision Support for Equitable Food and Nutrition Security in the Houston Area." 

Dr. Jiao has published over 110 peer-reviewed articles and two books on Shared Mobility and Smart Cities, respectively. His research has been reported on in major media outlets such as ABC, Associated Press, CNN, Fox, NBC, NPR, New York Times, SXSW, and Wired. As a PI or Co-PI, Dr. Jiao has raised over $25 million in funding from different sources such as NSF, USDOT, USHUD, UT, Microsoft, MITRE, Google, and others. 

Dr. Junfeng Jiao's Smart City research has received national and international recognition. He is a Fulbright Specialist on Smart City selected by the US Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. 

 

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. Urban Planning, University of Washington
  • M.S. Transportation Engineering, University of Washington
  • M.S. Geographic Information System, University of Twente
  • M.E. Architectural Engineering, Wuhan University
  • B.E. Urban Planning, Wuhan University

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS​

  1. Jiao, J., Mira, B., Azimian, A., Farahi, A., (2022). Housing Market Price Movements Under Tech Industry Expansion During COVID-19, International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis.
  2. Jiao, J., Azimian, A., Degen, N.,(2022). Identifying Hospital Deserts in Texas Before and During the COVID-19 Outbreak, Transportation Research Record: Journal of Transportation Research Board.
  3. Jiao, J., Azimian, A., Degen, N.,(2022). Understanding the Relationship Among E-scooter Ridership, Transit Desert Index and Health-Related Factors, Transportation Research Record: Journal of Transportation Research Board.
  4. Li, S., Zhai, W., Jiao, J., Wang, C., (2022). Who loses and who wins in the ride-hailing era? A case study of Austin, Texas. Transport Policy.
  5. Jiao, J., Chen, Y., (2022). Is the Relationship between Bus and Light Rail Transit a Competition Substitution or a Congestion Substitution? An empirical study in Seattle. Public Transport.
  6. Jiao, J., Wang, H., (2022). Traffic Behavior Recognition from Traffic Videos under Occlusion Condition: A Kalman Filter Approach, Transportation Research Record: Journal of Transportation Research Board.
  7.  Azimian, A., Jiao, J., (2022). Modeling Factors Contributing to Dockless E-Scooter Injury Accidents in Austin, Texas. Traffic Injury Prevention. DOI:10.1080/15389588.2022.2030057
  8. Jiao, J., Azimian, A., (2021). Prediction of “L” Train’s Daily Ridership in Downtown Chicago During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Findings. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.30181
  9. Jiao, J.,Chen, Y., Azimian, A., (2021). Exploring temporal varying demographic and economic disparities in COVID-19 infections in four U.S. areas: based on OLS, GWR, and random forest models. Comput.Urban Sci. 1, 27 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-021-00028-5
  10. Bai, S, Jiao, J., (2021). Toward Equitable Micromobility: Lessons from Austin E-scooter Sharing Program. Journal of Planning and Education Research. DOI:10.1177/0739456X211057196
  11. Jiao, J., Bai, S, Choi, S. (2021). Understanding E-scooter Incidents Patterns in Street Network Perspective: A Case Study of Travis County, Texas. Sustainability.
  12. Jiao, J., Bhat, M., Azimian, A., (2021). The Impact of COVID-19 on Home Value in Major Texas Cities. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. 
  13. Jiao, J., Hansen, K., Azimian, A., (2021). Land Value Impacts of Airbnb Listings on Single-Family Homes in Austin, Texas, USA. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis. 
  14. Lee, H, Jiao, J., Choi, S., (2021). Identifying Spatiotemporal Transit Deserts in Seoul, South Korea. Journal of Transport Geography.
  15. Jiao, J.,  Azimian, A., (2021). Measuring Accessibility to Grocery Stores Using Radiation Model and Survival Analysis. Journal of Transport Geography.
  16. Jiao, J.,  Azimian, A., (2021). Who Are Teleworking During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Transport Findings. 
  17. Jiao, J., Conrad, J., Azimian, A., (2021). Measuring Social Vulnerability in Transit Deserts of United States Metro Areas. International Journal of Geospatial and Environmental Research, 8(1).
  18. Bai, S., Jiao, J., Chen, Y., Guo, J., (2021). The Relationship Between E-scooter Travels and Daily Leisure Activities in Austin, Texas. Transportation Research Part D. 
  19. Jiao, J., Azimian, A., (2021). Exploring the Factors Affecting Travel Behaviors During the Second Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States. Transportation Letters: the International Journal of Transportation Research.
  20. Jiao, J., Bhat, M., Azimian, A., (2021). Measuring Travel Behavior in Houston, Texas with Mobility Data During the 2020 COVID-19 Outbreak. Transportation Letters: the International Journal of Transportation Research.
  21. Bai, S., & Jiao, J. (2021). Mining Heterogeneous Impact of Destination Attributes in Travel Demand Forecast for Different Urban Districts: A Deep Learning Approach. Transportation Research Record: Journal of Transportation Research Board.
  22. Lieberknecht, K., Zoll, D., Jiao, J., Castles, K.,(2021). Hurricane Harvey: Equal opportunity storm or disparate disaster, Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2021.1886063
  23. Feng, C., & Jiao, J. (2021). Predicting and mapping neighborhood-scale health outcomes: A machine learning approach. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2020.101562
  24. Wu, H., Chen, Y., Zhang, Z., and Jiao, J. (2020). The impact of street characteristics on older pedestrians’ perceived safety in Shanghai, China. Journal of Transport and Land Use. https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2020.1588
  25. Feng, C., Jiao, J. and Wang, H. (2020).Estimating e-scooter traffic flow using big data to support planning for micromobility. Journal of Urban Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2020.1843384
  26. Bai, S. & Jiao, J. (2020).From Shared Micro-Mobility to Shared Responsibility: Using Crowdsourcing to Understand Dockless Vehicle Violations in Austin, Texas. Journal of Urban Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2020.1798244
  27. Bai, S. & Jiao, J. (2020). Dockless E-scooter Usage Patterns and Urban Built Environments: A Comparison Study of Austin, TX, and Minneapolis, MN. Travel Behavior and Society. 20, 264-272.
  28. Cai, M., Jiao, J., Liu, Y., and Luo, M., (2020). Identifying Transit Deserts for Low-Income Commuters in Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China. Transportation Research Part D. 82, 1-11.
  29. Jiao, J. & Wang, F. (2020).Shared Mobility and Transit-dependent Population: A New Equity Opportunity or Issue? International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2020.1747578
  30. Jiao, J., & Bai, S., (2020). Understanding the Shared E-scooter Travels in Austin, TX. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 9(2), 135; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi9020135
  31. Jiao, J. & Cai, M. (2020). Using Open Source Data to Identify Transit Deserts in Four Major Chinese Cities. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 9 (2), 100.
  32. Jiao, J., Bischak, C., Hyden, S., (2020). The Impact of Shared Mobility on Trip Generation Behavior in the US: Findings from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey. Travel Behavior and Society. 19, 1-7.
  33. Jiao, J., & Bai, S., (2020). An Empirical Analysis of Airbnb Listings in Forty Major American Cities, Cities. 
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102618
  34. Boeing, G., Wegmann, J., & Jiao, J., (2020). Rental Housing Spot Markets: How Online Information Exchanges Can Supplement Transacted-Rents Data. Journal of Planning and Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X20904435
  35. Alcorn, L. & Jiao, J., (2019). Bike Sharing Station Usage and the Surrounding Built Environments in Major Texas Cities. Journal of Planning and Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X19862854
  36. France-Mensah, J., OBrien, W.,  Kothari, C., Jiao, J.(2019). Integrating Social Equity in Highway Maintenance and Rehabilitation Programming: A Quantitative Approach. Sustainable Cities and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101526
  37. Wu, H., Chen, Y., Jiao, J.(2019).The Impact of Neighborhood Built Environments on Shopping Travel Modes in Shanghai, China. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198119844969
  38. Griffin, G., & Jiao, J. (2019). The Geography and Equity of Crowdsourced Public Participation for Active Transportation Planning. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118823498. 
  39. Zhao, X., Chen, P., Jiao, J., Chen, X.,, & Bischak, C. (2019). How Does ‘Park and Ride’ Perform? A Longitudinal Evaluation. Journal of Transport Policy. 74:15-23.
  40. Jiao, J., & Bai, S.(2019).Cities reshaped by Airbnb: A Case Study in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19853275
  41. Jiao, J., & Bai, S.(2019).Cities reshaped by Airbnb: A Case Study in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19853275
  42. Xie, B., Jiao, J., An, Z., Zheng, Y., & Li., Z. (2019). Deciphering the stroke–built environment nexus in transitional cities. Cities. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.05.035.
  43. Chen, Z. Zhang, Y.H., Liu, S., & Jiao, J., (2018). Management of Health-Enhancing Recreation Resource in Urban Green Spaces: A Lesson from American Park Rx Program. Journal of Urban and Regional Planning. 10(4): 100-116. (In Chinese).
  44. Chen, P., Jiao, J., Xu, M., Gao, X.,& Bischak, C. (2018). Promoting Active Student Travel: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Transport Geography. 70, 265-274.
  45. Jiao, J. (2018). Investigating Uber Price Surges During a Special Event in Austin, TX. Research in Transportation and Business Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2018.02.008 
  46. Sun, F., Chen, P., & Jiao, J. (2018). Promoting Public Biking Sharing: A Lesson from the Unsuccessful Pronto System. Transportation Research Part D. 63, 533-547. 
  47. Griffin, G., & Jiao, J. (2018). Crowdsourcing Bike Share Station Locations: Evaluating Participation and Placement. Journal of the American Planning Association. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2018.1476174
  48. Sun, F., Wang, Z., Gao, X., Jiao, J., & Tao, Z. (2018), Built Environment Effects on Bike Crash Frequency and Risk in Beijing. Journal of Safety Research. 64, 135-143. 
  49. Yu, H. , Jiao, J., Houston, E., & Peng, Z. (2018). Evaluating The Relationship Between Rail Transit and Industrial Agglomeration: An Observation From the Dallas-Fort Worth Region, TX. Journal of Transport Geography. 67. 33-52. 
  50. Chen, P., Ding, C., & Jiao, J.  (2018). Non-linear Effects of the Built Environment on Automobile-Involved Pedestrian Crash Frequency: A Machine Learning Approach. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 112, 116-126. 
  51. Choi, K., Jiao, J., & Zhang, M. (2017). Reducing Vehicle Travel for the Next Generation: Lessons from the 2001 and 2009 National Household Travel Surveys. Journal of Urban Planning and Development. 143(4), 1-9. 
  52. Wegmann, J., & Jiao, J. (2017). Taming Airbnb: Toward Guiding Principles for Local Regulation of UrbanVacation Rentals Based on Empirical Results from Five US Cities. Land Use Policy. 69, 494-501.
  53. Jiao, J., Chen, Y., & He, N. (2017). Plan Pedestrian Friendly Environments around Subway Stations: Lessons from Shanghai, China. Journal of Urban Design. 22(6), 796-811. 
  54. Jiao, J. (2017). Identifying Transit Deserts in Major Texas Cities Where the Supplies Missed the Demands. Journal of Transport and Land Use. 10(1), 529-540. 
  55. Jiao, J., Holmes, M., & Griffin, G.  (2017). Revisiting Images of the City in Cyberspace: Analysis of Spatial Twitter Messages During a Special Event. Journal of Urban Technology. DOI:10.1080/10630732.2017.1348881. 
  56. Radil, S.,& Jiao, J. (2016). Public Participatory GIS and the Geography of Inclusion. The Professional Geographer. 68(2), 202-210. 
  57. Jiao, J., Moudon, A.V., & Drewnowski, A. (2016). Does Urban Form Influence Grocery Shopping Frequency? A Study from Seattle, Washington. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management. 44(9), 903-922. 
  58. Jiao, J., Drewnowski A., Moudon, A.V., Aggarwal, A., Oppert, J.M., Charreire, H., & Chais, B. (2016). The Impact of Area Residential Property Values on Self-Rated Health: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study of Seattle and Paris. Preventive Medicine Reports. 4, 68-74. 
  59. Jiao, J. (2016). Measuring Vulnerable Population’s Healthy and Unhealthy Food Access in Austin, Texas. AIMS Public Health. 3(4), 722-732. 
  60. Pang, H., & Jiao, J.  (2015). Impacts of Beijing Bus Rapid Transit on Pre-Owned Home Values. Journal of Public Transportation.18(2), 34-44. 
  61. Griffin, G., & Jiao, J. (2015). Where does Bicycling for Health Happen? Analyzing Volunteered Geographic Information through Place and Plexus. Journal of Transport & Health. 2(2), 238-247. 
  62. Griffin, G., & Jiao, J. (2015). Crowdsourcing Bicycle Volumes: Exploring the Role of Volunteered Geographic Information and Established Monitoring Methods. URISA Journal 27(1), 57-66. 
  63. Jiao, J., Moudon A.V., Kim, S., Hurvitz, P., & Drewnowski, A. (2015). Health Implications of Adults’ Eating at Versus Living Near Fast Food or Quick Service Restaurants. Nutrition and Diabetes. 5 (e171), 1-6. 
  64. Jiao, J. (2015). Introduction to AIMS Special Issue "Obesity and Food Intake in Vulnerable Populations". AIMS Public Health. 2(1), 161-162. 
  65. Aggarwal, A., Cook, A., Jiao, J., Seguin, R., Moudon, A.V., Hurvitz, P., & Drewnowski, A. (2014). Access to Supermarkets and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption. American Journal of Public Health. 104 (5), 917-923. 
  66. Drewnowski, A., Moudon, A.V., Jiao, J., Aggarwal, A., Charreire, H., & Chaix, B. (2014). Food Shopping Behaviors and Socioeconomic Status (SES) Influence on Obesity Rates in Seattle and in Paris. International Journal of Obesity. 38(2), 306-314. 
  67. Jiao, J., Harbin, J., & Li, Y. (2013). Fast Tracks: A Comparison of High-Speed Rail in China, Europe, and the United States. Journal of Transportation Technology, 3(2a), 57-62. 
  68. Jiao, J., & Dillivan, M. (2013). Transit Deserts: The Gap Between Demand and Supply. Journal of Public Transportation. 16(3), 23-39. 
  69. Li, Y., Liu, Y., & Jiao, J. (2013). A GIS-based Suitability Analysis of Xiamen’s Green Space in Parks for Earthquake Disaster Prevention and Refuge. Urban Planning and Design Research, 1(1), 1-8. 
  70. Li, Y., Li, M., & Jiao, J.  (2012). Land Use Change and Rangeland Sandification Research in an Ecologically Fragile Zone, Taking Shiqu County as an Example.  International Journal of Digital Content Technology and its Application, 6 (18): 203-210. 
  71. Jiao, J., Moudon, A.V., Ulmer, J., Hurvitz, P., & Drewnowski, A. (2012). How to Identify Food Deserts: Measuring Physical and Economic Access to Supermarkets in King County, WA. American Journal of Public Health, 102 (10), e32-e39. 
  72. Jiao, J., Moudon, A.V., & Drewnowski, A. (2011). Grocery Shopping: How Individuals and Built Environments Influence Travel Mode Choice. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2230, 85-95. 
  73. Moudon, A.V., Lin, L., Jiao, J., Hurvitz, P., & Reeves, P. (2011). The Risk of Pedestrian Injury and Fatality in Collisions with Motor Vehicles; A Social-Ecological Study of State Routes and City Streets in King County, Washington. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(1), 11-24.
  74. Bing, H., & Jiao, J. (2003). Urban Development Predictions, Cellular Automata Model and Transition Rules. Engineering Journal of Wuhan University, 36 (z2), 379-381 (In Chinese). 
  75. Shang, T., & Jiao, J. (2002). A New Urban Planning Support System based on GIS and 3D Modeling Technologies. Engineering Journal of Wuhan University, 35 (5), 37-39 (In Chinese). 

​​BOOKS 

  1. 1. Jiao, J., (2021). Shared Mobility,  Amsterdam, Netherlands, Elsevier. 
  2. 2. Jiao, J. 2022. Smart Cities, Dubuque, IA: Kendell Hunt

BOOK CHAPTERS 

  1. Jiao, J., & Wegmann, J. (2017). Urban Vacation Rentals and the Housing Market: Boon or Bane in the Millennial City? In Moos et al. (eds), The Millennial City: Trends, Implications, and Prospects for Urban Planning and Policy  (pp. 167-179). New York, NY: Routledge. 
  2. Jiao, J., Radil, S., Harbin, J., & Li., Y. (2015). A People’s Atlas of Muncie: Citizen Representations of Urban Space. In Chen et al. (eds.), Building Resilient Cities in China; The Nexus between Planning and Science (pp 109-117). New York, NY: Springer. 
  3. Li, Y., He, L., Jiao, J.,  & Shen, G. (2015). A Quantitative Study of Housing Price based on a Huff Model and Hedonic Method. In Chen et al. (eds.), Building Resilient Cities in China; The Nexus between Planning and Science (pp 207-221). New York, NY: Springer. 
  4. Jiao, J., Phelps, T., & Li, Y. (2015). Storm Preparedness: A Case Study of Delaware County, Indiana. In Chen et al. (eds.), Building Resilient Cities in China; The Nexus between Planning and Science (pp 235-243). New York, NY: Springer. 
  5. Jiao, J.,  Moudon, A.V., &  Li, Y. (2013).  Locations with Frequent Pedestrian-Vehicle Collisions: Their Transportation and Neighborhood Environment Characteristics in Seattle and King County, Washington. In Geertman et al. (eds.), Planning Support Systems for Sustainable Urban Development (Volume 195, pp 281-296). New York, NY: Springer. 
  6. Jiao, J., & Boerboom, L. (2006). Transition Rule Elicitation Methods for Urban Cellular Automata Models. Leeuwen, J. and  Timmermans, H. (eds), Innovations in Design & Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning (pp. 53-68). New York, NY: Springer.

PEER-REVIEWED CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

  1. Jiao, J., Choi, S., Xu, W., (2021). Tracking Property Ownership Variance and Forecasting Housing Price with Machine Learning and Deep Learning. IEEE International Conference on Big Data. https://bigdataieee.org/BigData2021/SpecialSession.html
  2. Jain, A., Svetlik,M., Machak, N., Sikand, K., Karamanli, C., Zhou, K., Hart, J.,  Biswas, J., Sentis, L., & Jiao, J. (2021). An Open-Source Framework for Last Mile Delivery with Heterogeneous Robots.  AAAI Spring Symposium 2021 Machine Learning for Mobile Robot Navigation in the Wild 10.13140/RG.2.2.32963.94244. 
  3. Chen, Y., Jiao, J., Mao, J.,& Wu, H. (2017). Understanding Pedestrians’ Travel Behavior in Large Chinese Cities, A Case Study of Shanghai Central City,  Transportation Research Procedia. 25, 2292-2301. 
  4. Jiao, J., & Li, Y. (2012). The Influence of Built Environments on Grocery Shopper’s Destination Choice: A Case Study of Seattle. The 6th International Association for China Planning Conference (IACP) Proceedings (pp. 29-34).2012 IEEE Xplore. DOI: 10.1109/IACP.2012.6342985.
  5. Li, Y., He, L., & Jiao, J. (2012). A Spatial Analysis of Housing Prices in Chinese Coastal Cities: A Case Study of Xiamen, China. The 6th International Association for China Planning Conference (IACP) Proceedings (pp. 144-148). 2012 IEEE Xplore. DOI: 10.1109/IACP.2012.6342973
Junfeng Jiao
Contact
(512) 471-1922
Urban Information Lab

Office: SUT 3.120

AREAS OF INTEREST
  • Urban Informatics
  • Smart City
  • Smart Transportation
  • Ethical AI
  • Big Data
COURSES TAUGHT

Smart City

Urban GIS

Ethical AI

Smart City Studio

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Ming Zhang

Professor
Program Director for Community and Regional Planning

Meg Merritt

Lecturer

Marc Coudert

Lecturer