The North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Affiliation (NABSA) has awarded Anindya Debnath, a doctoral academy fellow in civil engineering on the U of A, the Meddin Rising Researcher Scholarship. The award acknowledges Debnath’s dedication to enhancing transportation fairness and sustainability via analysis on shared micromobility methods in underserved communities.
The Meddin Rising Researcher Scholarship, established in honor of Russell Meddin, a world advocate for bikeshare, gives promising researchers entry to NABSA’s intensive member assets, together with the Information Share database, digital occasions and a complimentary go to the 2025 NABSA convention in Montreal, Canada. Debnath’s scholarship time period runs from June 4, 2025, via Might 31, 2026.
Debnath will use the scholarship yr to advance his analysis on how individuals in smaller cities use shared micromobility methods like bikeshare and scootershare, and what prevents others, particularly these with restricted transportation choices, from accessing them.
“My aim is to search out methods to design shared micromobility methods that higher serve everybody,” Debnath mentioned. “I examine how shared micromobility methods, together with bikeshare and different low-cost choices, can fill these gaps and provides extra individuals higher methods to journey.”
His dedication to equitable transportation options is rooted in his private expertise rising up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the place navigating each day commutes could be troublesome and chaotic.
“Rising up in Dhaka, I noticed how laborious it’s for individuals to maneuver round in a crowded metropolis with out good transport choices. This helped me perceive the struggles individuals face when planning their each day journeys, and it impressed me to work on options that make transportation simpler and fairer for all,” he mentioned.
Debnath’s educational journey has included a Fulbright Scholarship throughout his grasp’s research at Georgia Tech, the place he developed a ardour for utilizing knowledge and planning to enhance real-world transportation methods. He’s at present conducting doctoral analysis within the ZeRo (Zero Revolution Transportation Techniques) Lab beneath Suman Mitra, assistant professor of civil engineering, with a give attention to shared mobility and journey conduct modeling.
His analysis addresses challenges from the design and adoption of bikeshare methods in underserved areas to shifts in ridesourcing patterns throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. His work has been printed in peer-reviewed journals comparable to Sustainable Cities and Society and Transportation Analysis Report, and he has contributed to a Springer Nature ebook on transportation coverage in creating nations.
“I hope my analysis will assist shift the main focus of shared micromobility planning towards people who find themselves usually neglected, particularly individuals with restricted transportation choices in small cities.” he mentioned. “By figuring out actual limitations to shared micromobility use and testing sensible methods to deal with them, I need to present clear, data-driven steerage for policymakers and system operators.”
Debnath sees NABSA’s convention and assets as important instruments to collaborate with professionals engaged on comparable challenges. He seems to be ahead to studying from operators, planners and group teams, whereas contributing his findings to NABSA’s Information Share platform.
“My work aligns with NABSA’s mission by specializing in who’s ignored of present micromobility methods and the way we are able to deliver them in,” he mentioned. “By learning actual limitations and proposing options, I intention to assist construct transportation networks that serve a broader vary of individuals and assist sustainability targets.”
To study extra on the Meddin Scholarship or NABSA’s initiatives, go to nabsa.net.
To study extra concerning the ZeRo Lab, go to ZeRo Lab.
