Research summary
There’s no denying that people need vehicles to get around, whether for work, errands or social reasons. But the transportation sector generated about a quarter of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020—and our transportation systems are not as efficient as they could be. For example, it’s not uncommon for trucks to travel empty over significant distances.
As Canada Research Chair in Data-Driven Optimization for Transportation, Dr. Emma Robert Frejinger is trying to optimize our transportation systems using operations research and machine learning. She and her team are devising approaches that can be used to design better transport systems or to help organizations plan their operations. This work involves solving decision-making problems that are large-scale and combinatorial in nature and affected by interdependencies and uncertainties. The decision-support tools that Frejinger uncovers will improve the efficiency and resilience of Canada’s transportation systems, support our economy, and reduce fossil fuel emissions.