Research tool
New Chicago Accessibility Explorer
The new Chicago Accessibility Explorer is available at access.uic.edu, with interactive maps of transit, automobile, bicycle, and walking accessibility. The legacy version remains available as well.
Mobility & Urban Systems LabUniversity of Illinois Chicago
University of Illinois Chicago
Mobility &
Urban Systems Lab
We investigate how transportation systems shape access, safety, equity, and opportunity in cities.
Department of Urban Planning and Policy
Directed by Nebiyou Yonas Tilahun
Height: employment density · Color: 45-minute transit access to jobs, typical AM peakFull map (opens a new tab)
Our purpose
Transportation shapes access to jobs, education, services, and social connections. Our lab brings together transportation research, urban policy, and public data to understand how transportation systems serve people and communities—and to inform policies that make cities more accessible and equitable.
- 2026
New paper
Determinants of automated speed camera location choice
Sajad Askari, Nebiyou Tilahun, and David Levinson. Published in the Journal of Transport Geography, volume 137, article 104869.
- 2025
Presentations
Transportation Research Board presentations
Two presentations on automated traffic enforcement by Nebiyou Tilahun, Sajad Askari, and David Levinson.
- Tilahun, N., Askari, S., and D. Levinson. Determinants of Speed Camera Location Choice.
- Tilahun, N., Askari, S., and D. Levinson. The Racial Composition and Volume of Tickets at Red Light Cameras.
Commentary
Police stop more Black drivers, while speed cameras issue unbiased tickets − new study from Chicago
An article in The Conversation by Nebiyou Tilahun, Wenfei Xu, David Levinson, and Michael Smart.
Research
Our work spans access to opportunities, transportation equity, travel behavior, and urban data and policy.
Access to opportunities
We measure how transit, walking, bicycling, and auto networks connect people to jobs, education, health care, parks, and daily needs.
Open the accessibility explorerTransportation equity
We study how the benefits and burdens of mobility, enforcement, infrastructure, and safety are distributed across communities.
See related workTravel behavior
We examine how people value time, reliability, safety, comfort, information, and the built environment when making travel choices.
See related workUrban data and policy
We build evidence and public-facing tools that make metropolitan transportation questions visible and useful for decision-making.
See related workProjects &
public tools
Public data tool
Metropolitan Chicago Accessibility Explorer
An interactive platform for examining transit, walking, bicycle, and automobile access across metropolitan Chicago.
Open the explorer : Metropolitan Chicago Accessibility ExplorerSafety and equity
Automated Traffic Enforcement in Chicago
Research on safety effects, camera placement, citation patterns, and the equity implications of speed and red-light enforcement.
See related work : Automated Traffic Enforcement in ChicagoAccess and transit
Transit Deserts and First-Mile Connections
Research on gaps in modal access and interventions that can improve how residents reach transit and opportunity.
See related work : Transit Deserts and First-Mile ConnectionsPeople
Meet the full team
Shayan Khanmohammadidoustani
PhD Candidate, Urban Planning and Policy
Shayan studies travel behavior and emerging transportation technologies, including public acceptance of autonomous transit.
Sabah Tajin Tarique
PhD Candidate, Urban Planning and Policy
Sabah studies transport poverty, infrastructure access, and the social dimensions of urban and regional systems.
David Navarro-Rodriguez
PhD Student, Urban Planning and Policy
David studies urban employment subcenters and methods for identifying and analyzing them.
Selected
publications
Browse all publications - 2026
Askari, S., Tilahun, N., and Levinson, D. Determinants of automated speed camera location choice. Journal of Transport Geography, 137, 104869.
- 2024
Xu, W., Smart, M., Tilahun, N., Askari, S., Dennis, Z., Li, H., and Levinson, D. The racial composition of road users, traffic citations, and police stops. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(24), e2402547121.
- 2023
Tilahun, N. Safety Impact of Automated Speed Camera Enforcement: Empirical Findings Based on Chicago’s Speed Cameras. Transportation Research Record, 2677(1), 1490–1498.
- 2023
Kim, S. J., Shin, J., and Tilahun, N. Racial disparities in the pattern of intergenerational neighbourhood mobility. Urban Studies, 60(2), 256–273.
- 2023
Tilahun, N., Persky, J., Shin, J., and Zellner, M. Childhood Poverty, Extended Family and Adult Poverty. Journal of Poverty, 27(1), 1–14.