Corey Harper (E 2014, 2017)

Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Assistant Professor , Heinz College

Bio

In his role as the director of the Future Mobility Systems Lab, he leads a team of researchers who explore the infrastructure, policy, and equity implications of emerging transportation technologies (e.g., autonomous vehicles and micromobility). The equity analysis side of his team applies equity metrics to assess how policy and regulation could affect the distributional equality of transportation resources. The modeling and simulation side of his group is focused on incorporating new mobility modes (e.g., micromobility and e-commerce) into regional traffic demand models to promote better long-range planning of the transportation system.

In the past, Harper’s research has focused on climate-resilient transportation systems and automation in transportation. Here, he has used cost-benefit analysis, modeling and simulation, and machine learning to ask questions such as “how does rain impact congestion on the transportation network” and “how could robocars impact parking revenues in our central business districts.” He also received the Elsevier ATLAS Best Paper Award for his work looking at the equity impacts of automation. In 2016, he was invited to become a Young Member of the Transportation Research Board Standing Committee for Vehicle-Highway Automation.

Harper received his BS in 2013 from Morgan State University (Civil Engineering) and completed his MS and PhD in 2014 and 2017, respectively, from CMU CEE. Before joining the faculty at CMU he was a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, supporting clients on technical and policy issues related to cyber-physical systems, especially helping the United States Department of Transportation with the integration of connected and automated vehicles.

Education

• Postdoc: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (2021)

• PhD: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (2017)
• MS: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (2014)
• BS: Civil Engineering, Morgan State University (2013)

Research

Research Group:  IESS, SETS

• Sustainable transportation systems
• Multi-modal transportation modeling
• Systems and infrastructure impacts of the transition to autonomous vehicles
• Transportation equity and safety
• Decision analysis and modeling
• Active management of transportation systems

Publications

• Hanig, L., Nock, D. & Harper, C.D. (2023) What stay-at-home orders reveal about dependence on transportation network companies. Transportation. 
• Fan, Z., & Harper, C. D. (2022). Congestion and environmental impacts of short car trip replacement with micromobility modes. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 103, 103173.
  
• Harper, C. D., Qian, S., & Samaras, C. (2021). Improving Short-Term Travel Speed Prediction with High-Resolution Spatial and Temporal Rainfall Data. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, 147(3), 04021004.
• Grahn, R., Harper, C. D., Hendrickson, C., Qian, Z., & Matthews, H. S. (2019). Socioeconomic and Usage Characteristics of Transportation Network Company (TNC) Riders. Transportation, 1-21.
• Khan, A., Harper, C. D., Hendrickson, C. T., & Samaras, C. (2019). Net-societal and Net-private Benefits of Some Existing Vehicle Crash Avoidance Technologies. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 125, 207-216.
• Harper, C. D., Hendrickson, C. T., & Samaras, C. (2018). Exploring the Economic, Environmental, and Travel Implications of Changes in Parking Choices Due to Driverless Vehicles: An Agent-based Simulation Approach. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 144(4), 04018043.
• Harper, C. D., Hendrickson, C. T., Mangones, S., & Samaras, C. (2016). Estimating Potential Increases in Travel with Autonomous Vehicles for the Non-driving, Elderly and People with Travel-restrictive Medical Conditions. Transportation research part C: Emerging Technologies, 72, 1-9.

Courses

• 12-783/94-802 GIS