On 30th September, I received the XXI Abertis Award for sustainable mobility for my doctoral thesis
Written by
José Ángel Martín Baos
The Abertis Foundation recognised on 30th September 2024 the best works in the field of transport infrastructure management and road safety in the XXI edition of the Abertis Awards for sustainable mobility. In the doctoral thesis category, the jury awarded the first prize to José Ángel Martín Baos, for his doctoral thesis titled “Machine learning methods applied to transport demand modelling”. This work focuses on the application of advanced machine learning (ML) techniques to optimise transport demand modelling, a crucial aspect for enhancing sustainable mobility and the planning and management of transport infrastructures.
The award, which highlights innovation in transport and road safety research, emphasises the approach taken in this doctoral thesis, demonstrating how machine learning models, such as neural networks, can outperform traditional random utility models (RUM) in predicting transport demand. These models are fundamental in assessing the social and economic impact of new infrastructures and promoting transport policies that drive sustainability.
In my thesis, I also address a significant limitation of ML models: the difficulty in generating reliable econometric indicators, which are essential for infrastructure planning. To address this, I proposed a reinterpretation of a model called Kernel Logistic Regression (KLR), which combines the advantages of RUM with machine learning techniques, achieving more accurate predictions without losing the ability to derive these indicators.
The award ceremony took place at the headquarters of Vocento in Madrid, at the conclusion of the ABC Forum on Sustainable Economy, with the participation of prominent figures in the sector. The awards were presented by Elena Salgado, President of the Abertis Foundation; José Manuel Vassallo, Director of the Abertis-UPM Chair; José Miguel Atienza, Director of the School of Civil Engineering at UPM; and Georgina Flamme, Director of Institutional Relations, Communication and Sustainability of Abertis and the Abertis Foundation.
I shared this recognition with two other outstanding researchers: Tasneem Falah Mohammad Miqdady from the University of Granada, and Javier Caimari Tur from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. The awardees received a financial grant as well as a sculpture, symbolising the Abertis Foundation’s commitment to research and the development of sustainable mobility solutions.
Related news
- Article in the ABC newspaper (Spanish)
- Article on the Escuela Superior de Informática website (Spanish)
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José Ángel Martín Baos is an Assistant Professor (PhD) at the Escuela Superior de Informática of the University of Castilla-La Mancha. He obtained his PhD in Advanced Computer Technologies from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in 2023. There, he graduated with honors on both a BSc. in computer science in the year 2018, and a MSc. in computer science in the year 2019.
Since 2016, José Ángel has been working as a researcher in the MAT (Modelos y Algoritmos en Sistemas de Transportes) research group at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. His research focuses on the use of machine learning models and artificial intelligence for solving optimization problems in the field of transportation. Specifically, he has worked on the application of machine learning models for transport demand modeling.