VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY · HUMAN MOBILITY LABS
Every journey tells a story. We connect human mobility data, AI, and policy to build more equitable, healthy, and resilient communities.
Explore our research ↗Meet the lab →MOVEMENT IS HUMAN
How we move shapes access to opportunity, exposure to climate risks, and the spread of disease. Understanding those connections is at the heart of our work.
Led by Dr. Chenfeng Xiong, Villanova Human Mobility Labs brings together transportation engineering, data science, and public health. We turn complex mobility patterns into evidence that communities and decision-makers can use.
Explore our director’s work ↗Director’s sponsored
research portfolio
Director’s research
publications
PhD researchers
across disciplines
Undergraduate &
high-school interns mentored
Portfolio and team figures from Chenfeng Xiong’s CV and team profile. Funding reflects the director’s cumulative research portfolio.
OUR RESEARCH IN ACTION
We work with public agencies and research partners to understand travel, improve access, and study the links between mobility, health, and climate.
Open explorer ↗
FHWA SUPPORTED Interactive explorer · Open data sample
Complete Trip Data Explorer
From individual trip segments to connected journeys. Explore approximately 28.8 million trip records across six Utah counties, linking car, transit, and active travel in one research resource.
ACCESS × INCENTIVES × EQUITY
FTA SUPPORTED Published research · Open models
Transit Equity Credits
Can tradable credits make public transit more equitable? We model dynamic pricing and heterogeneous traveler needs to examine new approaches to transit incentives and financing.
NIH SUPPORTED Villanova × IBM Research Africa · Research platform
HEAT Mobility
Combining satellite embeddings, urban form, and socioeconomic data to study surface heat inequity in Johannesburg–Ekurhuleni and explore equitable urban greening scenarios.
Explore the data hub ↗
NIH U54 · INFORM-AFRICA Published studies · Shared data
SARS-CoV-2 & Human Mobility
Studying how mobility patterns, interregional travel, and pandemic responses intersect in Nigeria and South Africa—with reproducible analyses and a shared human mobility data hub.
Meet the INFORM Africa consortium ↗Federal Highway Administration · Federal Transit Administration · National Institutes of Health
HOW WE WORK
LAB DIRECTOR
Assistant Professor · Civil & Environmental Engineering
Dr. Xiong studies the connections between human mobility, transportation systems, and societal outcomes. His work brings data science and behavioral insight to questions of access, resilience, and public health.
Meet Chenfeng ↗Google Scholar ↗Transportation systems & logistics
Mobility & public health
Machine learning & behavior
Climate, mobility & health
Trajectories & deep learning
Travel demand & agentic models
IDEAS, SHARED
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART E
ARXIV · PREPRINT
PLOS ONE
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES · PNAS
TOGETHER AT TRBBEYOND THE DATA
Our lab brings together postdocs, PhD students, undergraduate researchers, and high-school interns. We learn from one another through day-to-day research and time together at conferences.
Life in the lab ↗JOIN THE CONVERSATION
We welcome students and collaborators interested in mobility data,
transportation, public health, and climate. Tell us about your interests.
HIGH SCHOOL & UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
High school and undergraduate students are welcome to join our research community through VSRI. Work with our team on mobility data, AI, transportation, climate, health, and equity.
High school juniors and seniors can apply for an 8–10 week full-time summer experience. Undergraduates can also explore year-round research opportunities.