Current Research
C2SMART Urban Connector
C2SMART is the acronym for Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation. It is a Tier 1 University Transportation Center funded by U.S. Dept. of Transportation. UTEP is a partner in C2SMART.
Over the past two years, researchers at UTEP and NYU have collaborated on the development of a smartphone application named Urban Connector, which is designed to cater to the urban mobility needs and preferences of seniors.
With the support from the Parks and Recreation Department in the City of El Paso, researchers at UTEP and NYU have conducted surveys in El Paso and New York to understand the lifestyle and mobility needs of the seniors. Based on this knowledge, a prototype of the application was developed. A follow-up survey was conducted in El Paso to gather feedbacks on the design and functional features. The prototype was improved to become the beta version of Urban Connector. The beta version has been tested by 40 seniors in El Paso for one month. The researchers are currently preparing to field test the Urban Connector in New York and to launch Version 1.0 in El Paso.