| Article Index |
|---|
| Professor Howard Kirby |
| Publications |
| Professor Emeritus Howard Kirby BA (Cantab), MA, FCILT, FSS Professor of Transport Studies E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
Research Interests
Howard Kirby has conducted and managed an extensive range of research projects, in three main areas:
Transport Modelling - principal research interests centre on the development of statistical and mathematical studies of travel demand models, particularly models of destination choice; car ownership forecasting; the estimation of errors in models; the use of simplified area-wide models; validation techniques; and investigation of empirical factors such as the evidence of trade-offs in travel time and money budgets, and the factors affecting location decision-making.
Applications of Advanced Information Technology - principal research interests have been the evaluation and implementation of methods for capturing and transcribing data, using speech recognition or image processing technology; the application of knowledge-based systems, eg to traffic signal design and traffic control; and the use of neural networks for recognising congestion patterns and for short term forecasting.
Safety and Environmental Issues - he has led a major study on contributory factors in urban traffic accidents, undertaken a review of the efficacy of off-road driver training, and led studies to evaluate the effects of advanced forms of traffic control on energy savings and emissions, the development (for the Department of Transport) of a Vehicle Market Model designed to estimate the effects of different policy levers on fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions nationally, and the appraisal of ways of conveying information on fuel efficiency through labels and guides.
Research Projects
EC - Endorsement of Masters Course at Moscow Transport Institute
City of Edinburgh Council - The prediction of vehiclular emissions for the City of Edinburgh and their impact on air quality
Energy Saving Trust - Carbon emissions reduction in tenements
Department for Transport - Advice on Variable Demand Modelling
Centre for the Exploitation of Science and Technology - Informing the Traveller 2
EC - PORTAL: Examining training and education needs in the transport field throughout Europe
Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions - Advice on Data, Modelling & Calibration Issues
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - Modelling Decision Making Processes in UK Container Transport
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - Electronic Guide Dog - How new technology helps the mobility impaired
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EQUAL Programme: Auditory location finder (ALF) for blind, elderly and visually impaired people
Scottish Executive: Road traffic estimates for Scotland
Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions - Vehicle Market Model Update 2000
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council LINK IST Programme: Throwing light on timetables: can light-emitting polymers help?
Further Information
Prior to his appointment at Edinburgh Napier (in February 1997), Howard Kirby had been (from 1978-1997) Deputy Director (Research) at the Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, where he was also (in 1993/94) part-time Transportation Research Co-ordinator for the then Science and Engineering Research Council. Prior to that, he had been (from 1970-77) Lecturer in Transport Planning at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning at University College London, with a research base in the Transport Studies Group of UCL's Department of Civil Engineering; and from 1964-1970 he had undertaken research in the Traffic Planning Section of the then Road Research Laboratory.