Contact Information
Transit Mobility Program
Texas A&M Transportation Institute
710 N. Post Oak Road, Suite 430
Houston, Texas 77024
Phone: 713-613-9207
Email: [email protected]
Biography
Shuman Tan is an associate transportation researcher in the Transit Mobility Program at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. She earned her Bachelor of Urban/Rural Planning & Resources Management degree in 2009 from Hohai University in China, and her Master’s of Urban Planning from Texas A&M University in 2013. Shuman is proficient in transit data analysis and modeling, and is skillful in GTFS feed preparation for rural and small urban transit systems. She developed a methodology to measure transit supply and to identify transit service gap in a region. She is experienced in best practice researches and case studies, participating in projects studying commuter rail contracted services, transit agency’s fare structure, and regional mobility management for senior transportation. She is one of the authors who contributed to the report Sources of Funding Transit in Texas, and to transit strategies and urban planning strategies for the Mobility Investment Priorities project funded by the 82nd Texas Legislature through Rider 42. In addition, Shuman has a keen interest in data visualization. She created a transit service guide for the greater Houston region with in-depth fare information, and assisted other programs at TTI with traffic congestion visualization and infographic design.
Education
- M.S., Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, 2013
- B.S., Urban/Rural Planning & Resources Management, Hohai University, 2009
Professional Affiliations
- Member, American Planning Association, Texas Chapter of American Planning Association
- Member, Houston Chapter, Young Professionals in Transportation
- Member, Chinese Overseas Transportation Association
TTI Tenure / Total Industry Tenure
4 Year, 6 Years
Professional Interests
- Transit data standards and governance
- GTFS preparation and application
- Transit network performance evaluation
- Operating analysis and performance measures
- Regional transit planning and coordination
- Paratransit operation and policy research
- Data visualization in transit
Selected Projects
- Texas Transit District Profiles and Performance Dashboard (Principal Investigator, ongoing). Provides a thorough understanding of the current status of Texas transit districts regarding governance, service area population and land area, transit service information by mode, fare structure and fare media by mode, operating days and hours by mode, financial status, performance statistics, and planned projects in the coming years.
- El Paso County Regional Transit Institutional Options Feasibility Study (Task Lead and Contributing Author, ongoing). Provides technical support to the El Paso County to examine the feasibility of the creation of a single seamless fixed-route transit system for two currently separated fixed-route transit systems in the county. This project will identify transit organizational, regulatory, and financial framework alternatives; and develop a prioritized list of corridors in which to implement transit services.
- TxDOT AV/CV Test Bed to Improve Transit, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Safety (Researcher, ongoing). Research and develop AV/CV technologies to prevent crashes involving transit vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians at signalized intersections.
- TCRP G-14 Contracting Commuter Rail Services (Researcher, 2018). The objective of this research is to provide guidance to public agencies and other key stakeholders in the contracting of commuter rail services.
- Track Sustainability Impacts to METROLift (Principal Investigator, 2017). Conducted data analysis to determine the impact of the revised METROLift fare policies and other practices on travel patterns and travel frequency of METROLift riders and assesses the impact on METROLift sustainability.
- Regionally Coordinated Transportation Plan for the Coastal Bend (Task Lead and Contributing Author, 2017). Provided the Rural Economic Assistance League/Transportation Coordination Network of the Coastal Bend with technical assistance to complete the 2017-2020 regional public transportation coordination plan for the Planning Region 20.
- GTFS Technical Assistance (Task Lead, 2014‒2016). Developed a methodology and toolsets to prepare text files that meet the Google’s General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) for small urban transit systems and applied the method successfully in several Texas transit agencies, including the Capital Area Rural Transportation System, Port Arthur Transit, Beaumont Municipal Transit, and Abilene CityLink.
- Texas Urban Gap Analysis (Researcher, 2013). Estimated population and land area within the urbanized area but outside the service area of the transit provider(s) for all transit districts in Texas. The analysis was updated in 2016 as a part of the Texas Transit Needs Assessment project for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Public Transportation Division.
Publications
- L.K. Cherrington, S. Tan, T.W. Hansen (2017). Sources of Funding Transit in Texas. Transportation Policy Research Center, PRC 15-11.2.
- Elgart, A.S. Edrington, K.M. Miller, S. Tan, J.E. Warner (2017). Guidebook: Using Public Transportation to Facilitate Last Mile Package Delivery, Texas Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, 0-6891-P2
- E.S. Park, P.K. Hopke, I. Kim, S. Tan, C.H. Spiegelman (2017), Bayesian Spatial Multivariate Receptor Modeling for Multi-Site Multi-Pollutant Data, Technometrics, DOI: 10.1080/00401706.2017.1366948
- J.H. Overman, G. Stoeltje, M.A. Miller, S. Tan (2016). Regional Mobility Authorities in Texas: History and Current Status, Transportation Policy Research Center, PRC 15-41 F
- Tan, S. and Hansen, T. (2014). Impacts of Coordination between Fixed-Route and Paratransit on Service and Sustainability. Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Presentations
- Small Urban and Rural GTFS: From Zero to a Service Planning. Presented at the 2017 GIS in Transit Conference.
- Know Texas Transit Districts with Just a Few Clicks—The Power of Data Visualization. Presented at the 8th International Visualization in Transportation Symposium in 2017.
- Texas Transit Needs Assessment and Performance Dashboard. Presented in October 2017 through the webcast of the Center for Urban Transportation Research.
- Preparing GTFS Feed Data for Small Urban and Rural Transit Systems. Presented at the 2016 National Tolls of the Trade Conference.
- Optimizing transportation Service for Older Adults through Best Practices and Integrated Sources. Presented at the 2015 APTA Annual Meeting.
- Impacts of Coordination Between Fixed-Route and Paratransit on Service Sustainability. Presented at the Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting in 2015.
Experience
- Associate Transportation Researcher, Transit Mobility Program, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, October 2016 – Present
- Assistant Transportation Researcher, Transit Mobility Program, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, January 2014 – September 2016
- Graduate Assistant Research, Transit Mobility Program, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, January 2012 – December 2013
- Assistant Marketing Manager, Shanghai Hydraulic Engineering Group Co. Ltd., July 2009– July 2011