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 ChicagoActivities & research highlights
Papers, presentations, and public discussion of our research, alongside selected projects, publications, and events.
Activities
Research highlights- 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.
Paper and press coverage
The racial composition of road users, traffic citations, and police stops
Wenfei Xu, Michael Smart, Nebiyou Tilahun, Sajad Askari, Zachary Dennis, Houpu Li, and David Levinson. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(24), e2402547121.
Op-ed
Debate over speeding tickets misses larger point about traffic safety
Kate Lowe, Stacey Sutton, and Nebiyou Tilahun call for a more equitable and effective approach to Chicago traffic safety in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Research in the news
Chicago’s “Race-Neutral” Traffic Cameras Ticket Black and Latino Drivers the Most
ProPublica cites work by Stacey Sutton and Nebiyou Tilahun on Chicago’s automated speed and red-light cameras.
Research highlights
Public research tool
Chicago Region Metropolitan Accessibility Explorer
Our interactive web-based platform visualizes transit, walking, bicycle, and automobile accessibility in the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area. The new explorer and the legacy version are both available.
Edited volume
Seeing Cities through Big Data
Edited by Piyushimita Thakuriah, Nebiyou Tilahun, and Moira Zellner, this Springer volume brings together selected peer-reviewed papers from the Big Data and Urban Informatics Workshop.
2014 · Workshop
Big Data and Urban Informatics Workshop
Along with colleagues, we organized the 2014 NSF-sponsored Big Data and Urban Informatics Workshop. The workshop proceedings are available online.