911吃瓜

March 2026

We are pleased to announce that S. Ali Azimi has successfully defended his MASc thesis, titled 鈥淎nalysis of Shared Micromobility Systems Using Data-Driven Models: Emissions Reduction and Demand Forecasting.鈥� In this research, Ali developed emissions reduction factors for bike-sharing systems for the first time, using a meticulous methodology that combines bike-trip mode replacement detection with a high-resolution emissions inventory. He also applied multiple AI algorithms to forecast bike-sharing demand following large social events.

His work provides valuable insights to support evidence-based policies promoting active transportation, and the developed models can be used by bike-sharing operators to improve system operations and reduce operational costs. This work was conducted under the project 鈥�Emission Reduction by E-Micromobility鈥� and was financially supported by Mobi by Rogers, Mitacs, and NSERC.

January 2026

We are pleased to announce that Yannick Ntibansiga has successfully defended his MASc thesis, titled Mode Shift Assessed Through Integrated Micromobility Policies: An Activity-Based Agent Modelling Framework. In this research, Yannick successfully developed and applied a traffic activity-based agent model to evaluate policy scenarios aimed at shifting travel behavior from private cars to bike-sharing systems. Using a case study of the City of Vancouver, the thesis demonstrates how integrated micromobility policies can meaningfully influence urban mode choice and contribute to emissions reduction.

This work was conducted under the project 鈥�Emission Reduction by E-Micromobility鈥� and was financially supported by Mobi by Rogers, Mitacs, and NSERC.

December  2025

The second partner workshop of the SCRAM project was held at 911吃瓜鈥檚 School of Sustainable Energy Engineering in Surrey. The workshop brought together 25 participants from the SCRAM team, the CREATE lab, and partner organizations including the City of Burnaby, TransLink, MODO Carshare, Mobi by Rogers, and 911吃瓜 Sustainable Parking and Mobility. The discussion focused on feedback gathered from four communities in Burnaby, progress in the project鈥檚 modeling work (including the agent-based traffic model, emissions model, weather model, air pollution model, health impact model, and transportation cost model) and the identification of scenarios to reduce vehicle-kilometres travelled that reflect community input, are technically modelable, and are politically feasible.

December  2025

The CREATE Lab is pleased to announce the launch of UTEC: Urban Transportation Emissions Calculator, now available at .
UTEC is fully developed by the CREATE research team, with ReWheel Inc. serving as the licensed distributor for Canada. UTEC is a next-generation, high-resolution platform designed to support research, R&D, policy development, transportation planning, and emissions analysis. It provides scientifically robust estimates of energy use, toxic emissions, and GHGs across detailed urban and regional networks.

The platform is powered by the trusted mobile-source emissions inventory engine of the U.S. EPA model, ensuring high accuracy, transparency, and regulatory-grade reliability. UTEC expands MOVES capabilities through advanced data integration, scenario modeling, and user-friendly tools tailored for academic, governmental, and industry applications. UTEC is now open to early users, researchers, agencies, and partners. Anyone interested can contact the UTEC team through to request a free username and password.

Explore UTEC and join us in shaping the future of sustainable, data-driven transportation.

November 2025

CREATE's presentation at the UNU-INWEH Sceince Talk by Dr. Hosseini titled "Evidence of the Contribution of Transportation-Related Air pollution to Urban Air Quality: A Persistent Global Challenge" is available on . 

November 2025

CREATE's presentation at , Edmonton, Alberta, titled "From Cars to Communities: Transportation Pathways for Cleaner Air and Lower Emissions " . Dr. Hosseini delivered a talk on behalf of the CREATE students, highlighting the broader issue of unequal distribution of transportation-related emissions and pollution across communities. He also discussed how electrifying urban transportation could influence existing environmental injustices in exposure to emissions.

October 2025 

Yannick Ntibansiga, MASc Candidate and Transportation Researcher at 911吃瓜鈥檚 CREATE Lab, had the exciting opportunity to attend and present at the North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA) Conference. As part of the lightning 鈥�1-minute speed rounds,鈥� he highlighted the range of micromobility research currently underway at CREATE,  including emission reduction methodologies, agent-based traffic simulations and life cycle assessments bike sharing systems in Vancouver to support smart and sustainable mobility planning. The project is supported by Mobi by Rogers, Mitacs, and NSERC. 

The conference brought together leading organizations in shared micromobility including BIXI, Lyft Urban Solutions,Mobi by Rogers, Indego (City of Philadelphia), BCAA, and many more operators, planners, policymakers, and advocates who are shaping the future of sustainable urban mobility.

October 2025

On October 8-9, 2025, CREATE's PhD student Zeinab Heidari is presenting at the  in University of Toronto.

September 2025

On September 9, 2025, Dr. Vahid Hosseini delivered a scientific talk titled 鈥淓vidence of the Contribution of Transportation-Related Air Pollution (TRAP) to Urban Air Quality: A Persistent Global Challenge鈥� at the Air Quality and Road Transport Emissions Symposium (AQRTE 2025).

The presentation highlighted the integration of multiple modeling approaches, from emissions estimation to atmospheric dispersion, chemical transport, and pollutant speciation. Dr. Hosseini showcased how these components can be brought together into an advanced urban digital twin framework capable of representing traffic, transportation systems, and their impacts on air pollution.

The talk sparked discussions on the role of digital modeling tools in advancing evidence-based policymaking and urban planning to tackle persistent air quality challenges worldwide.

September 2025 

On September 4鈥�5, 2025, Dr. Vahid Hosseini participated in Punjab鈥檚 inaugural Transport Expo, where he delivered a guest lecture on the challenges and interventions for reducing transportation-related air pollution in Lahore and across Punjab. His talk focused on practical strategies such as annual vehicle emission inspections, low-emission zones, emission sticker programs, and vehicle scrappage and buy-back initiatives.

In addition to his lecture, Dr. Hosseini joined a panel discussion alongside experts in traffic engineering, public health, and climate change. The session highlighted the urgent need for integrated approaches that combine technological solutions, policy measures, and public awareness to tackle the region鈥檚 severe air quality challenges.

September 2025

On September 3, 2025, Dr. Vahid Hosseini delivered a scientific lecture at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), titled 鈥淓vidence of the Contribution of Transportation-Related Air Pollution (TRAP) to Urban Air Quality: A Persistent Global Challenge.鈥�

LUMS, one of Pakistan鈥檚 highest-ranked universities, hosted the event to highlight pressing issues in urban air quality. Dr. Hosseini鈥檚 talk emphasized Lahore鈥檚 severe air pollution problem (where annual average PM2.5 concentrations exceed 100 碌g/m鲁, far above the World Health Organization guideline of 5 碌g/m鲁). The lecture aimed to inspire researchers and students at LUMS to focus more on local challenges while contributing to global scientific dialogue.

The event also opened discussions for expanding collaboration between LUMS and 911吃瓜鈥檚 Faculty of Applied Sciences and School of Sustainable Energy Engineering. Faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduate students actively engaged in the session, fostering an exchange of ideas on advancing research and policy solutions for transportation-related air pollution.

June 2025

Dr. Vahid Hosseini was invited as a guest speaker at an event hosted by the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) in Edmonton, Alberta. His presentation provided an overview of vehicle emission standards, explored after-treatment technologies for gasoline and diesel engines, and examined the causes and consequences of emission control system tampering.

May 2025

Five of CREATE's students presented in the 60th annual  in Ottawa: 

• Air emission analysis of the low-emission zone policy towards heavy-duty diesel trucks restriction in downtown- Negar Razzaghi, Vahid Hosseini
• Emission reduction potential of urban bike-sharing systems- Ali Azimi, Yannick Ntibansiga, Negar Razzaghi, Vahid Hosseini
• Multi-scale spatial analysis of on-road emissions- Maha Shehadeh, Vahid Hosseini

MAY 2025

Three CREATE students 鈥� Seyed Hamid Delbari, Sara Asaad, and Zeinab Heidari鈥攔eceived awards for best presentations and posters at the SEEgrad 2025 conference held for graduate students in the Sustainable Energy Engineering school.

May 2025

Dr. Vahid Hosseini delivered talks at Kathmandu University and Tribhuvan University on 鈥淭argeting Transportation-Related Air Pollution.鈥�

In his presentations, Dr. Hosseini outlined advanced tools and strategies for tracking and reducing transportation emissions, including high-resolution emission inventories, remote sensing, and chemical transport modeling.

April 2025

Dr. Vahid Hosseini received the 2024 Excellence in Research Award from the School of Sustainable Energy Engineering.

911吃瓜 researchers reveal how bike sharing could shape future emission reduction policies

March 2025

While the electrification of passenger vehicles is widely regarded as a key strategy for decarbonizing urban mobility, it is not progressing at a sufficient pace. Alternative transportation, such as biking, offers an economical solution to expedite the transition. Read more...

911吃瓜's School of Sustainable Energy Engineering partners with Corix to enhance biomass plant efficiency

March 2025

厂贵鲍鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;School of Sustainable Energy Engineering (SEE) program and  鈥� the company that designed, built, owns and operates the Renewable Energy Centre biomass plant on Burnaby Mountain 鈥� have embarked on a four-year research collaboration aimed at measuring the quality of locally-sourced wood waste and the plant鈥檚 performance to improve operations and cut emissions even further. read more 

CREATE's Workshop on pedaling towards cleaner cities

Feb 2025

CREATE Lab presented preliminary findings from its project on emission reduction through bike sharing at a partner workshop with Mobi Bike, TransLink, and the City of Vancouver. Researchers Ali Azimi, Yannick Ntibinsiga, and Shedrach Ezenwali showcased their progress using an agent-based traffic model, MOVES emission model, multiple AI-driven models, and a life cycle assessment (LCA) model. Their analysis demonstrated that Vancouver鈥檚 bike-sharing system has the potential to reduce CO鈧� emissions from transportation in areas covered by the bike network by 4%鈥攁 significant impact given the current number of bikes. The study also found that four e-bikes can have a CO鈧� reduction effect equivalent to one electric vehicle (EV) replacing a fossil fuel car. These insights will contribute to policy recommendations promoting bike sharing as a cost-effective pathway for urban mobility decarbonization.

CREATE's knowledge dessimination activities 

October - December 2024

CREATE has been actively engaged in knowledge dissemination throughout Fall 2024. Our team presented two impactful papers at the CMAQ Conference in North Carolina, USA, in October, showcasing cutting-edge research in air quality modeling. In November, we ran two hands-on workshops about the SCRAM Project during the Engineering Without Borders (xChange) event at UBC, fostering innovation and collaboration. Additionally, in December, we delivered an invited talk at the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Alberta, highlighting advancements in sustainable energy and transportation systems. 

CREATE Leads Co-Creation Workshop for the SCRAM Project: Aiming for a Low-Carbon Future in Burnaby!

May 2024

On May 24, 2024, CREATE along with the involved research groups from 911吃瓜 and UBC in the SCRAM (Sustainable Community-Resilient Alternative Mobility) project, hosted a co-creation workshop with partners from the City of Burnaby, TransLink, Mobi Bike, EVO Carshare, and others. The workshop focused on developing pathways for low-carbon urban mobility, prioritizing a fair transition, maximizing societal benefits, and ensuring feasibility within existing infrastructure. Insights from this event will guide future community engagement and case study selection in Burnaby. For a detailed report and further information, please visit the SCRAM project page here.

Congratulations to Ali and Negaar for Winning Best Poster Presentation Awards at 911吃瓜 SEEGRAD 2024!

May 2024

We are thrilled to announce that Ali and Negaar have been awarded the Best Poster Presentation Awards at the 911吃瓜 SEEGRAD 2024 conference! Their outstanding research and presentation skills were recognized at this prestigious event, showcasing their dedication and innovation in the field.

For more details about the conference and their winning presentations, please visit the 911吃瓜 SEE GRAD 2024.

CREATE researchers participate at the 59^th Canadian Transportation Research Forum  (CTRF) Conference in Kelowna, BC.

May 2024

We are proud to announce that our team members Hamid, Maha, and Ali presented their research in the 59^th Canadian Transportation Research Forum (CTRF) conference, held in Kelowna, BC from May 12^th to May 15^th, 2024.

September 25, 2023

Choosing the right route to lower traffic emissions

The story of helping cities reach their net-zero mobility goals faster 鈥� even in sub-zero temperatures by by profiling tailpipe emissions and creating community-specific transportation models launched on about CFI-funded research at CREATE institution.

For reviewing the full article, here is the link at Innovation: 

August 23, 2023

CASA and OPUS on Remote Sensing of Emissions

The Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA), a multi-stakeholder non-profit association, has an to help address emissions from the transportation sector. The project scope is to use remote sensing technology to test emissions from the in-use on-road vehicle fleet in Alberta, including both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, and making recommendations for managing emissions from the on-road transportation sector. Dr. Hosseini is a participant on the CASA project team and is contributing his expertise in motor vehicle emissions to support the project work.

The emissions data collection and analysis were completed by Opus Inspection Inc., and Dr. Hosseini was involved in reviewing and providing comments on the consultant report. Opus鈥� report is available on the , and the project team is using those results, along with other key information sources, to develop a set of recommendations to support transportation emissions management in the province.

The project鈥檚 final report is expected to be available in June 2024.

July 14, 2023

Join us for the CREATE lab's webinar, "Unveiling Insights from Regulatory Agencies: Enhanced Data Analysis Techniques and Proficient Communication Strategies", on July 14, at 10-11:30.

This will be presented by Dr. Faraz Ahangar, data engineer at Southern California Edison.

Key topics:

• Data cleaning and analytical steps used in regulatory environments.
• Data visualization solutions developed for technical and non-technical audiences by showcasing some projects.

July 11 and 12, 2023

Join us for the CREATE lab's webinar, "Application of Atmospheric Modeling in Clean Transportation", on July 11 and 12, at 9-12.

This will be presented by Erfan Hajiparvane, air quality modeler and rsearch assistant at CREATE group.

Key topics:

• 锘匡豢Introducing atmospheric modeling tools
• 锘匡豢Meteorological modeling using WRF
• 锘匡豢Air Quality analysis using CMAQ
• 锘匡豢Model Validation

October 14, 2022

CREATE's PI, Dr. Hosseini, and group members had an exciting tour of Surrey's , the most advanced municipal center of its kind in BC. During the visit, we witnessed live demonstrations of traffic control and data acquisition from advanced sensors, traffic cameras, and AI-based algorithms on all modes of transportation across the City.  

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ON ENERGY, AIR POLLUTION, TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENT