Platial Analysis Lab

Measuring How Events Shift Micromobility Demand In our latest paper published in the Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis...

How do city events move e-scooters and e-bikes? Our new paper answers that with causal inference + millions of trips. platial.science/measuring-ho...

That is a wrap on the 6th Spatial Data Science Symposium #SDSS205. Thanks so much to the presenters, panellists , and participants. Great turn out this year. We look forward to seeing you all next year at #SDSS2026.

Spatial Knowledge and Information Conference (SKI) Canada 2026 February 19-22, 2026 in Banff, AB | Spatial Knowledge and Information Canada brings together researchers GIScience, spatial data science, and related disciplines who live or work in Canada.

Registration is now open for the 9th Conference on Spatial Knowledge and Information (SKI) Canada #SKI2026. skiconference.ca/2026/#regist...

Spatial Data Science Symposium 2025 December 4-5 | Distributed & Online. The symposium aims to bring together researchers from both academia and industry to discuss experiences, insights, methodologies, and applications, taking…

The 6th Spatial Data Science Symposium is this week! Thursday and Friday depending on your time zone. Registration is free but filling quickly. We have a wide range of sessions, panels, and talks this year. Check them out: sdss2025.spatial-data-science.net

Spatial Data Science Symposium 2025 December 4-5 | Distributed & Online. The symposium aims to bring together researchers from both academia and industry to discuss experiences, insights, methodologies, and applications, taking…

Registration is now open for the 6th Spatial Data Science Symposium (#SDSS2025)! Registration is free but space is limited, so register soon. Check out the list of thematic sessions, accepted papers, keynotes, and interview. sdss2025.spatial-data-science.net#register

Happy GIS Day 2025 #gisday

Shared Micromobility: Redefining suburban Transportation - Shared Micromobility Explore the concept of Shared Micromobility and how it is transforming urban transportation options. Shared Micromobility %

Nice to see this Shared Micromobility partnership come together. This is a project with colleagues from McGill, Toronto Metropolitan, Simon Fraser, and UAlberta exploring the use and impacts of shared micromobility services in a Canadian suburban context. platial.science/sem-can-buil...

The program for the 6th Spatial Data Science Symposium is now online. Registration will open soon. The symposium is Dec 4 & 5. Plan to check out the Thematic Sessions, Paper Sessions, Emerging Researchers Panel, Keynotes, and Interview. sdss2025.spatial-data-science.net/program.html

The program for the 6th Spatial Data Science Symposium is now online. Registration will open soon. The symposium is Dec 4 & 5. Plan to check out the Thematic Sessions, Paper Sessions, Emerging Researchers Panel, Keynotes, and Interview. sdss2025.spatial-data-science.net/program.html

1/3📍Sharing the report on the 2nd Geoprivacy Workshop for Personalized Health held @liser.lu (published on May 31) with @grantdmckenzie.bsky.social & 20+ international participants.

- Full report: osf.io/xrfk4/overview
- Workshop webpage: sites.google.com/view/ekgeog/...

On Tues, Nov 4, Prof. McKenzie will give a virtual presentation as part of the BEGIN seminar series hosted by the University of St. Andrews. The title is "Place, Privacy, and Mobility: Navigating the Intersection of Location Science and Human Dynamics." Register: tinyurl.com/begin-mckenzie

Findings from the City of Grand Rapids’ Shared Micromobility Free Fare Pilot Program - Mobilizing Justice The Free Fare Pilot Shared micromobility systems, such as bikeshare and scootershare, are increasingly important to cities’ transportation strategies, as they seek to move away from car dependence.…

In a new blog post published via the Mobilizing Justice Partnership, our team discusses the impact of Grand Rapids’ Free Fare Pilot Program, launched in partnership with Lime to expand access to shared micromobility for low-income residents. mobilizingjustice.ca/findings-fro...

Reflections on the 2nd Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshop On October 27, the lab hosted the second Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshop in Montreal...

Earlier this week we hosted the 2nd Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshop in Montreal. A day of spotlight talks, lightning talks, and dynamic discussion with participants from across North America and Europe. Read the full recap here: platial.science/reflections-...

Trust in foundation models and GenAI: A geographic perspective Large-scale pre-trained machine learning models have reshaped our understanding of artificial intelligence across numerous domains, including our own field of geography. As with any new technology,…

Excited to share that our chapter “Trust in Foundation Models and GenAI: A Geographic Perspective” will be featured in the upcoming book Geography According to ChatGPT.
While the book is in press, you can check out the full chapter on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2510.17942

A Scoping Review of Street Space Allocation Studies Daniel Romm and colleagues trace the evolution of street space allocation studies and highlight Montréal’s growing role in this emerging field...

Our new paper, “Measuring and Moving on the Street: A Scoping Review of Street Space Allocation Studies,” published in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, maps global efforts to measure and reimagine urban street allocation. platial.science/a-scoping-re...

Last week, @daniel-romm.bsky.social participated in the North American Bikeshare and Scootershare Association #NABSA Conference in Montréal. He presented our work exploring Grand Rapids Michigan's free fare #escooter pilot program.

Cosine capital: Large language models and the embedding of all things - Mikael Brunila, 2025 This article describes the emergence of a novel form of capital—which I call “cosine capital”—that finds objectified form in the “embedding” structures of large...

Congratulations to former lab member @mikaelbrunila.bsky.social on the recent publication of one of his dissertation chapters "Cosine Capital: Large language models and the embedding of all things." journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war

Some of our recent work on street space allocation was referenced in an @economist.com article this week, focused on the global rise (and controversy) of cycling. www.economist.com/internationa...

Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshops 2025 Montreal The Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshops 2025 aims to broaden the conversation on current analytical tools, frameworks, and open data that support informed decision-making in sustainable…

Just two more days to submit your Statement of Interest for the Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshop in Montreal later this month. Details and submissions accepted here: ptal-io.github.io/ddma2025-mon...

Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshops 2025 Montreal The Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshops 2025 aims to broaden the conversation on current analytical tools, frameworks, and open data that support informed decision-making in sustainable…

Want to help shape the future of sustainable mobility? On Oct 27, 2025 we are meeting at McGill for the Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshop. Submit your Statement of Interest now: ptal-io.github.io/ddma2025-mon...

Montréal’s bike infrastructure hardly takes up any space from cars on city roads Bike infrastructure in Montréal takes up less than three per cent of the roadway, while car infrastructure has more than 90 per cent of roads across the city.

Montréal’s bike infrastructure hardly takes up any space from cars on city roads. New piece in 'The Conversation' by Lab Member Daniel Romm. theconversation.com/montreals-bi...

Welcome to Jenny Zhu Jenny Zhu has joined our group as an incoming Master'st student studying equitable access to micromobility...

We are excited to welcome Jenny Zhu to the lab as a Master's student researcher exploring equitable access to micromobility. platial.science/welcome-to-j...

Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshops 2025 Montreal The Data-Driven Mobility Analytics Workshops 2025 aims to broaden the conversation on current analytical tools, frameworks, and open data that support informed decision-making in sustainable transport...

Do you work with mobility data? Come discuss! ptal-io.github.io/ddma2025-mon...

October 27, the @platialanalysis.bsky.social at McGill will be hosting the Data-Driven Mobility Analytics workshop (DDMA2025).

Free participation but limited space, so please declare your interest by October 3!

Highlights from GIScience 2025 Last week, the lab participated in the 13th International Conference on Geographic Information Science in Christchurch, New Zealand...

Highlights from GIScience 2025 | platial.science/highlights-f...

Media Spotlight on Montreal Cycling Study A study led by lab member Daniel Romm on Montreal’s cycling infrastructure has received wide media coverage...

Congrats to lab member @daniel-romm.bsky.social, whose study on Montreal’s bike lanes is gaining national and international media coverage.
platial.science/media-spotli...

"The Cars are Going to be Alright" - New publication.
platial.science/new-pub-the-...

Platial at CTRF: Challenging Car-Centric Cities Daniel Romm recently attended the 60th Annual Conference of the Canadian Transportation Research Forum...

PhD candidate Daniel Romm recently attended the 60th Annual Conference of the Canadian Transportation Research Forum (CTRF)... platial.science/platial-at-c...

LBS 2025: Mobility, Data, and Urban Insights Last week, Prof. McKenzie participated in the 19th International Conference on Location Based Services, held in Espoo, Finland...

Last week, Prof. McKenzie participated in the 19th International Conference on Location Based Services, held in Espoo, Finland… #lbs2025
platial.science/lbs2025/

Platial Lab attending AGILE 2025 PhD candidate Dan Qiang and former student Dr. Hongyu Zhang will travel to Dresden, Germany in June to present their work...

PhD candidate Dan Qiang and former student Dr. Hongyu Zhang will travel to Dresden, Germany in June to present their recent papers at #AGILE2025. #GIScience
platial.science/platial-lab-...

We are recruiting a fully funded Master's student interested in equity in shared e-micromobility (Fall 2025 start). Click through the link for details. @kmanaugh.bsky.social

platial.science/msc2025/