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Biography

Prof Caulfield is a Professor in Transportation in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. He is also a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. Since joining the Department Prof Caulfield has embarked on an intensive research program addressing global issues such as the environmental impacts of transport and methods to reduce the carbon impacts of transport and in 2017 he addressed the Irish Citizens Assembly on this topic. He recently provided advice to the Climate Change Advisory Council on pathways to decreasing transport emissions by 2030. Prof Caulfield was a member of the Steering Group for the review and update of the GDA Transport Strategy with the National Transport Authority. Prof Caulfield has published over 200 papers in these areas in high impact international journals and international conferences and to date has been awarded aprox. €8 million in research funding (from EPA, SFI, FP7, CEDR, TII, DoT, RSA, SEAI and HORIZON Europe). He currently has 9 PhD students and 6 postdoctoral researchers in his research group. Prof Caulfield also a member of a number of National and International research groups and is the former Chair of the Irish Transportation Research Network and was a member of the executive committee of the Universities Transport Studies Group as well as several committees at the Transportation Research Board in Washington D.C. He is an Editor of Transport Policy (impact factor: 6.3) and an Associate Editor of Sustainable Cities and Society (Impact Factor: 10.5). He is a member of the International Editorial Board of Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (Impact Factor: 7.3), Case Studies on Transport Policy (Impact Factor: 2.4), Journal of Transport Geography (Impact Factor: 5.7) and the Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research.

Research Tags

Cost Benefit Analysis Cost Benefit Analysis Discrete Choice Modelling Discrete Choice Modelling Driving simulation Energy Ecomomics Environmental aspects of transportation Environmental Impacts of Transport Environmental impacts of transport Impacts of new public transport Intelligent Transport Systems Intelligent Vehicles Intermodal Transport New Means of Transport Public Transport Public Transport Infrastructure Road Safety Simulation and modelling transportation networks Stated Preference Analysis Stated preference analysis Telecommunications and transport Traffic Congestion Transport Transport Demand Management Transport economics Transport Economics Transport Modelling Transport Modelling Transport policy

Research Projects

Project Title

ROBUST (Electric shaRed mOBility hUbS Trials)

From

2023

2027

Summary

The project proposes a long-term mobility hubs trial in four urban locations in Ireland, Galway, Sligo, Donegal, and Dublin. The installed hub infrastructure will comprise e-car charge points, electric vehicles and e-bikes (provided by partners ESB & Enterprise) and further expand the offer of micro-mobility options. The mobility hubs show evidence of being an effective intervention to change travel behaviours and the ROBUST project will seek to develop an evidence-informed toolkit for mobility hub deployment. The 2-year trial will provide an opportunity to study the persistence of modal shift. The hub will serve as an incubator, accelerating the uptake of electric mobility options by allowing interacting with future mobility technologies and removing barriers through participatory research. Various stakeholders will be engaged in the process of hub evolution through stakeholder workshops and co-creation workshops. The project will use an experimental design comparing prior-to-trial travel behaviour, engagement with the hub modal options and after-trial persistence of the modal shift.

Funding Agency

SEAI

Person Months

Project Title

TRACT: TRAnsport Behaviour Change Trials

From

2022

2025

Summary

TRACT has two distinctive trials, one which will focus on the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and the second using the mobility hub concept to encourage modal shift. The e-mobility trial will consist of a TRACT smartphone app that will be developed to inform users about their driving behaviour and the impact of switching to an electric vehicle. Several specific use cases will be examined (those without driveways, taxi drivers, rural groups) to determine what would encourage them to switch. The mobility-hub trial will combine the use of shared bikes, cars, active modes and public transport. A suburban location will be selected, and shared cars and bikes (provided by partners Yuko & BleeperBike) will be located there, advertised and promoted to the community. This model has been shown to reduce car ownership and emissions internationally. The 18-month trial will enable the TRACT researchers to measure the impacts of these interventions. The results from the trials will be extrapolated to the wider population to demonstrate what the potential emissions reduction could be in similar areas and user groups. A cost-effectiveness analysis, looking at wider economic benefits, will also be conducted at several stages of the project to feed into policymakers and inform local and national policy.

Funding Agency

SEAI & Department of Transport

Person Months

Project Title

Irish Car Stock Model (RATE)

From

Summary

In transport emissions modelling is a process that uses a lot of data. The accuracy of this modelling process is very much dependant on the quality of the base data used in this process. In 2019, it was estimated that 74% of trips in Ireland were made by private car. This demonstrates the importance of having an accurate car stock model. The RATE project will develop a sophisticated national car stock model that will incorporate purchasing preferences with historical data to provide a state-of-the-art national car stock model. The 2023 Climate Action plan places aims to decrease transport emissions in Ireland by 50% compared to 2018 levels. The policy uses the Avoid-Shift-Improve paradigm and under the improve section it is planned to sell 845,000 private electric cars. The improve section of the plan is responsible for removing 4.74 MtCO2eq and is the largest policy tool in the transport sector accounting for 43% of all emissions in the sector. Given the importance and the amount of emissions required to be reduced by this policy, it is vital to have the most up-to-date tools to monitor the success and project future trends. That is what is planned in the RATE project. The RATE project will: - Provide realistic estimated of the potential growth of EVs in the Irish Market - Estimate the associated emissions reductions from EV growth - Model the changes in air quality indicators such as particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide - Build upon existing SEAI funded research projects

Funding Agency

SEAI

Project Title

CONUNDRUM - Co-Creating sustainable and shared community mobility

From

Summary

Tackling transport and mobility challenges is critical to addressing the climate crisis, given that transport emissions accounted for more than 20% of sectoral emissions in Ireland in 2020. A recent OECD (2022) report noted that current policies that aim to decarbonise the system via private vehicle improvements are `unlikely to lead to substantially different patterns of behaviour, rapid emissions reductions, and large well-being improvements'. A key challenge is how to move beyond a focus on private, electric mobility to engage with more radical low-carbon alternatives. Our team proposes to accelerate progress towards carbon emission reductions but also to actively enhance and sustain community wellbeing. The key objective here is to empower communities to adopt more sustainable modes of mobility by demonstrating how shared low-carbon transport can plug the gap when high frequency public transport might not be available. As well as addressing carbon reduction targets, shared mobility could support community wealth building through the development of novel initiatives that address a community need and reconnect people to their place and each other, contributing to addressing the challenge of isolation that many more vulnerable communities feel post-Covid (Government of Ireland, 2021). Balancing climate action with social justice requires recognition that not all places are equal, with some smaller towns and rural areas facing much more challenging sustainability transitions. We will complete an initial mapping of key relevant stakeholders in each location, building on the existing work of TASC (our societal impact champion,) who have initiated some community engagement already around just transitions in Enniscorthy. We will then develop the SCOOT App using deep learning methods, behavioural tools and tailored information to enable the community to optimise modes of transport that reduce emissions and decrease travel costs and travel time. The third solution will see the amalgamation of the previous two solutions into one research activity, modelling how the potential change of transport modes impacts the south-eastern regional transport model developed by the National Transport Authority. The changes in mode preferences and the use of shared modes of transport will be modelled for the Enniscorthy area to determine how it affects travel times and emissions in the community.

Funding Agency

SFI

Project Title

POWERDRIVE

From

2022

2025

Summary

POWERDRIVE is submitted in framework of the Horizon Europe's Cluster 5 "Climate, Energy and Mobility" whose main focus is to "accelerate the twin green and digital transitions and associated transformation of our economy, industry and society with a view to achieving climate neutrality in Europe by 2050". To comply with the described policy framework and meet the work programme requirements and EU policy goals, POWERDRIVE aims at developing a next generation, highly efficient, cost-effective, and compact power electronics solution that integrate a portfolio of technologies for multi objective optimisation of electric powertrains of battery electric vehicles (BEV). These integrated solutions can be applied to both low-performance and high-performance vehicles, and they will be suitable for diverse types of electric vehicles (EV). The concept of POWERDRIVE is that all the experience and expertise of the project partners in the development of electric drivetrain components will be leveraged and lead into the integration of advanced power electronics solutions for an optimised powertrain. This concept brings additional opportunities to strengthen Europe's supply chain in electromobility for road transportation and to achieve zero-emission road mobility.

Funding Agency

HORIZON Europe

Person Months

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Representations

Details	Date
Member of the Royal Irish Academy committee on Climate Change and Environmental Sciences	2022 - 2027
Working Group Member: Innovative Mobility for the Periphery - OECD	2020-2021
Member of the Dublin Energy Transition Team (Dublin City Council/Codema)	2021-2022
Steering Committee Member: Review of the Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, National Transport Authority	2021-2022
Editorial Board - Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research	2023 - to present
Steering Committee Member: Review of the Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, National Transport Authority	2021-22
Editor - Transport Policy (Impact Factor: 6.173)	2022 - present
Senior Editor - Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (Impact Factor: 16.799)	2018 - present
Editorial Board - Journal of Transport Geography (Impact Factor: 5.899)	2019 - present
Editorial Board - Transport Policy (Impact Factor: 6.173)	2019 - 2022
Editorial Board - Case Studies on Transport Policy (Cite Score: 3.7)	2018 - present
Editorial Board - Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment (Impact Factor: 7.041)	2017 - present
Member of the Executive Committee of the Universities' Transport Study Group (UTSG)	2015-2018
Chair of the Irish Transport Research Network	2013-2017
Member of the Transport Statistics Liaison Group (Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Central Statistics office)	2010
Member of the TRB Committee on Emerging and Innovative Public Transport and Technologies (AP020)	2010 -2019
Irish member of the management committee of COST Action TU0804 'Survey Harmonisation with New Technologies Improvement' (SHANTI)	2009 -2011
Member of the The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport in Ireland Policy committee	2009 - 2011
Member of the EU-Smartcities working group - Mobility and Transport	2016
Member of the TRB Committee on Bicycle Transportation, ANF20	2012 - 2020
Member of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport Working Group on Intelligent Transport Systems	2015

Publications and other Research Outputs

Charly, A., Caulfield, B., Transport emission modelling based on a bottom-up approach to facilitate sustainable transport planning, Sustainable Futures, 100435, 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED TARA - Full Text DOI

Stefaniec, A., Egan, R., Hosseini, K., Caulfield, B,, The challenge of making EVs just affordable enough: Assessing the impact of subsidies on equity and emission reduction in Ireland, Research in Transportation Economics, 109, (101495), 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED TARA - Full Text DOI

Oeschger, J., Caulfield, B Carroll, P., User characteristics and preferences for micromobility use in first- and last-mile journeys in Dublin, Ireland, Travel Behaviour and Society, 38, (100926), 2025, Journal Article, PUBLISHED TARA - Full Text DOI

Pramod Choudhari, T., Illahi, U., Al-Hosni, M., O'Mahony, M., Caulfield, B, Decarbonising Transport Sector by Electrifying Car-sharing Fleet in Ireland, 103rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington DC, 2024, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

Kelly, S., Gallagher, J., Charly, A., Caulfield, B. , Assessing Future Impacts on Non-Exhaust PM2.5 Emissions, 103rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., 2024, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

Hosseini, K., Stefaniec, A., Charly, A. Papaphilippou, P., Caulfield, B., Decarbonising Ireland's Road Transport: A Network DEA-BWM Assessment Based on the Avoid-Shift-Improve Paradigm, IATBR - 17th International Conference on Travel Behavior Research, Vienna, July, 2024, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

Gaughan, M., Caulfield, B., Preferences for price reductions on public transport, 17th International Conference on Travel Behavior Research, Vienna, July, 2024, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

Richards, A., Convery, S., O'Mahony, M., Caulfield, B, Pre and post Covid preferences for working from home, Travel Behaviour and Society, 34, (100679), 2024, p1 - 8, Journal Article, PUBLISHED TARA - Full Text DOI

Stefaniec, A., Brazil, W., Whitney, W., Zhang, W., Colleary, B., Caulfield, B., Examining the long-term reduction in commuting emissions from working from home, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 127, (104063), 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED TARA - Full Text

Egan, R., Caulfield, B., There"s no such thing as cycle traffic: a critical discourse analysis of public opposition to pro-cycle planning, Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research, 2, (100014), 2024, Journal Article, PUBLISHED TARA - Full Text

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Egan, R., Caulfield, B, Cycleway Opposition in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown: Exploringthe Role of Discourse, Cycling and Society Symposium, Dublin, 2023, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

Brazil, W., Whitaker, K., Colleary, B., Egan, R., Caulfield, B, Cycle propensity modelling: An extreme cycling uptake study, Cycling and Society Symposium, Dublin, 2023, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

Caulfied, B, Launch of the OECD review of the Irish Transport System, Climate Change Advisory Council, Dublin, 5th October , 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Caulfield, B., Transport Powers for a directly elected Dublin Mayor, Dublin Citizens Assembly, Grand Hotel, Malahide , 25th June, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Caulfield, B., Transport Powers for a directly elected Dublin Mayor, Dublin Citizens Assembly, Radisson Blu, Golden Lane, 10th September, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Caulfield, B, Rapidly decreasing transport emissions - Key Note, Euro-Global Climate Change Conference 2022, Paris, 13th September, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Caulfield, B, Innovative transport data collection methods, Invited Lecture,, Guest Lecture, KTH Stockholm, 18th October, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Caulfield, B., Reducing emissions in our cities, Kilkenny City SUMP, Kilkenny, 30th September, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Caulfield, B. , Decreasing transport emissions in our cities, Renewables in Ireland Conference 2022, Cork, 9th November, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

Oeschger, G., Carroll, P., Caulfield, B. , First/last mile to public transport & mode choice, 53rd UTSG, Loughborugh University, 2021, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

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Awards and Honours

Award	Date
Fellow of Trinity College Dublin	2020
The Michael Beesley Award, honourable mention	August, 2007
ITRN Best paper - Determining the welfare effects of introducing a cap‐and‐share scheme on rural commuters	September 2011
ITRN Best paper- Impact of emissions information on mode choices in Dublin: Stated Preference experiments	September 2013
ITRN Best paper - Encouraging sustainable commuting behaviour through smart policy provision	2017
Education & Public Engagement Champion - CONNECT	2021
Sustainability Leadership Award 2023: Awarded by Trinity College Dublin for Excellence in Research, Education and Engagement	2023

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

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Professor Brian Caulfield

Professor Brian Caulfield

Professor In Transportation (Civil Struct & Env. Eng.)

MUSEUM BUILDING

Brian.Caulfield@tcd.ie

3531896 2534

Biography

Research Tags

Research Projects

Representations

Publications and other Research Outputs

Publications

Awards and Honours