Tag: News

got-toilet-paper? There is a website for that!

The Pitt Smart Living team created a mobile-friendly web site to help Pittsburgh-area grocers figure out which times are best for visiting a store and what items are in-stock/out-of-stock during these challenging times. Our goal is to make everybody’s lives a bit easier during the pandemic and help flatten the curve of people visiting grocery stores.

The web site is immediately accessible at https://got-toilet-paper.org

No download or registration is required. It works on any mobile smartphone equipped with a web browser. It also works on laptops or desktop computers, although the location-based features will not be as accurate.

How it works

The got-toilet-paper? website works in two modes:

  • View existing data — shoppers can search for a particular store on a map centered in downtown Pittsburgh and then select the store of interest to see:
    • information about how busy the store typically is and how busy it currently is (using data provided by Google), and
    • information about essential items being in-stock/out-of-stock. We report when was the last time information was submitted and use data only from the last 3 days.
  • Contribute new data — shoppers can submit information about how crowded a store is and whether certain items are in-stock or out-of-stock. We only allow reports for up to 3 hours in the past.

The list of stores currently in the system is available at https://got-toilet-paper.org/about/stores

Sample screenshots are shown below:

crowding.PNGproducts.PNG

How to help

  1. Please use the got-toilet-paper? website the next time you go to a grocery store in the Pittsburgh area. Use it to view information and also contribute information for others to use!
  2. Please help promote the website through social media. Please tag us (@PittSmartLiving) on Twitter or Facebook.
  3. If you are a store manager, please contact us (got-toilet-paper AT list.pitt.edu) to add authoritative information about your store and become a partner (especially as we are looking to extend its functionality). The service is free.
  4. If you are a journalist, please help us raise awareness of the got-toilet-paper? website. Feel free to reach out (got-toilet-paper AT list.pitt.edu) if you need more information.

Who did this?

This app was put together in an agile way by the following members of the Pitt Smart Living team:

  • Programmer: Kristi Bushman
  • Faculty: Alex Labrinidis (main contact), Kostas Pelechrinis, Sera Linardi
  • Postdoc: Robizon Khubulashvili
  • PhD student: Mallory Avery

and is funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of Pittsburgh, through their support of the Pitt Smart Living project.

Postdoc Position in Economics and Computer Science

The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh has an opening for a 2-year post-doc position in Mechanism Design for Social Applications, with a possible extension to the third year. This position supports collaboration between GSPIA and the School of Computing and Information (SCI).

 The collaboration includes Pitt Smart Living, a project funded by a $1.4M National Science Foundation grant: ‘Building a Smart City Economy and Information Ecosystem to Motivate Prosocial Transportation Behavior’ (#1739413). The post-holder will play a significant role in building a marketplace around public transport, including designing time-sensitive coupons from local businesses to rebalance transit riders at rush hour.  Working with Profs Sera Linardi (experimental economics), Alexandros Labrinidis (data science), Yu-Ru Lin (computational social science), Adam Lee (data privacy) and with Prof Onur Kesten in an advisory role (Carnegie Mellon University, market design), the post holder will use theoretical modelling and lab and field experiments to:

  • investigate commuters’ response to uncertainty in travel time
  • model firms’ decision problem in offering coupons,
  • match commuters to coupons

The project aims to not only publish in academic journals but also create and deploy practical applications. Other projects may include mechanism design for social work.

Candidates should have a strong background in market design.  A background in transport economics is helpful but not necessary.  The candidate should be near completion of a PhD in microeconomics, computer science or similar fields. Review of applications will begin February 18, 2018, and will continue until the position is filled. Applications should include a curriculum vitae, copies of written work, and a motivation letter addressing candidate’s broader interest in social applications of mechanism design. Two letters of reference should be sent directly by the referees. Applications and request for further information can be sent by e-mail to: Prof. Sera Linardi (linardi@pitt.edu)

Western PA Mobility Showcase

We are excited to be a part of the Western PA Mobility Showcase that the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) of the City of Pittsburgh is organizing.

The Showcase will be open to the public, free of charge, on Thursday, January 4, 2018, from 12 noon to 2pm and 5pm to 7pm at Alumni Hall at the University of Pittsburgh’s Alumni Hall (4227 Fifth Ave).

Be sure to stop by our booth, learn more about the project, and participate in our survey (to win an iPad)!

More information about the showcase at http://bit.ly/WPAmobility

Light Rail arrivals now showing in Pittsburgh City Hall

We are happy to report that the PittSmartLiving display at the lobby of the historic City-County Building now includes real-time information about light rail arrivals for the nearby Steel Plaza station. Many thanks to the Port Authority for making that data available and to TransitScreen for incorporating the data feed.

As always, the transportation data feed can be accessed at http://tsgo.io/pghcityhall (even from your mobile phone).

t-station-screenshot
Screenshot showing arrivals for the Blue line (Nov 27, 2017)

Additional information:

New PittSmartLiving display at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

TransitScreen Display in the Lobby of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

We are very happy to announce that one more PittSmartLiving display went live recently, in the lobby of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main (in Oakland). The display provides location-specific real-time information about:

  • Port Authority bus arrivals
  • HealthyRide bicycle availability
  • Pitt Shuttle arrivals
  • Current Weather

This makes the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh the 4th Public Library in the USA that has a TransitScreen installation. The screen can also be accessed online, at https://tsgo.io/carnegielibrarypgh (even from your mobile phone).

This is the seventh display of the PittSmartLiving pilot project which aims to evaluate the benefits of making multimodal transportation information available in real-time to city-dwellers, through public displays and a mobile app (forthcoming).

If you have any feedback for this or any of the other PittSmartLiving displays, please contact us.

Multidisciplinary Team Receives National Science Foundation Funding to Improve Transit [Pittwire]

A multidisciplinary team of Pitt investigators has received a three-year, $1.44 million NSF grant to build and evaluate a marketplace and a mobile app for multimodal transportation. The marketplace will provide incentives such as discounts at nearby businesses to encourage riders to take a later bus if the next one is full.

The funding will enable the Pitt Smart Living Project to place additional multimodal, realtime transportation information screens around the city. A half-dozen screens are located in Oakland and Downtown in collaboration with TransitScreen, through seed funding from the University.

Read more: Pittwire Accolades article

PittSmartLiving project gets $1.44 million from the National Science Foundation

We are excited to announce that our team has received a three-year, $1.44 million NSF grant to design, develop, deploy, and evaluate a marketplace and a mobile app for multimodal mobility, as part of our PittSmartLiving project. The marketplace will, for example, provide personalized incentives for people to take a later bus if the next one is full. The mobile app will enable multimodal trip planning, where for example part of the trip is done by bus and part of the trip is done by taking a HealthyRide bicycle or a Pitt Shuttle.

The funding will also allow us to place an additional 10-15 multimodal real-time transportation information screens in Pittsburgh. These will supplement the half-dozen locations in Oakland and Downtown already deployed in collaboration with TransitScreen, a DC-based company providing displays of real-time information. The pilot project was paid for through seed funding from the University of Pittsburgh.

Principal investigators are project leader Alexandros Labrinidis, project co-leader Konstantinos Pelechrinis, Adam J. Lee, and Yu-Ru Lin of the School of Computing and Information; Sera Linardi of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs; and Kent Harries and Mark Magalotti of the Swanson School of Engineering.

In addition to TransitScreen, we are excited to collaborate with the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Healthy Ride, the City of Pittsburgh, Oakland Business Improvement District,  the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Envision Downtown, the Oakland Transportation Management Association, Pittsburgh 2030 District, Radius Networks, UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh Department of Parking, Transportation & Services, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Community and Governmental Relations, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social & Urban Research, and Daniele Quercia, Head of the Social Dynamics team at Bell Labs, Cambridge UK.

More information about the project can be found at https://pittsmartliving.org. For news and updates, you can also follow us on twitter (@PittSmartLiving) and Facebook (@PittSmartLiving), or you can check out one of the project’s screens in Oakland and Downtown Pittsburgh.

Pitt Smart Living project hopes to ‘democratize,’ incentivize transportation [The Pitt News]

A Pitt research project is attempting to “democratize” and incentivize public transportation in Pittsburgh using public information screens and a mobile app.

The Pitt Smart Living project is currently in the pilot phase, according to Alexandros Labrinidis, the Pitt computer science professor leading the project. This phase involves installing screens, powered by startup company TransitScreen, displaying data from multiple feeds — including Port Authority buses, Pitt and UPMC shuttles and Healthy Ride bikes.

Read more: The Pitt News article by John Hamilton

TransitScreen provides real-time transportation information at City-County Building [Post-Gazette]

TransitScreen, the service to inform commuters about the availability of all kinds of transportation options that began in Oakland in April, is now available at the City-County Building, Downtown.

The free service is essentially a display monitor that tracks Port Authority buses, ride-share services like Lyft and Uber, car-sharing service Zipcar and Pittsburgh’s bike-sharing program. The service usually is provided by a large employer, but the local system is paid for as a demonstration project by the University of Pittsburgh as part of its Smart Living project to see if the monitors can be used to encourage commuters to spend their time waiting for transportation at shops and restaurants.

Read more: Post-Gazette article by Ed Blazina

New PittSmartLiving display in historic City-County Building

PittSmartLiving display in the historic City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh.

We are excited to have a new PittSmartLiving display go live today, in the lobby of the historic City-County Building, which is celebrating its Centennial this year. The display provides location-specific real-time information about:

  • Port Authority bus arrivals
  • HealthyRide bicycle availability
  • Lyft availability
  • Zipcar availability
  • Current Weather

This makes the Pittsburgh City Hall the 10th City Hall in the USA that has a TransitScreen installation. The transportation data can be accessed at http://tsgo.io/pghcityhall (even from your mobile phone).

This is the sixth display of the PittSmartLiving pilot project which aims to evaluate the benefits of making multimodal transportation information available in real-time to city-dwellers. One big benefit of public displays is that they “democratize” information (according to Ms. Karina Ricks, Director of Mobility and Infrastructure for the City of Pittsburgh), since they make high-quality information available to everybody, regardless of whether they have a smartphone or not. Another benefit is that the displays put all information about multiple modes of transportation in one place (no need to go through
multiple apps).

In addition to transportation-related data, the display also shows live the latest tweets from the feeds of:

If you have any feedback for this or any of the other PittSmartLiving displays, please contact us.