R in King County Metro!

For our First Meetup of 2023 we are proud to bring in some exciting speakers to talk about how they are using R! We are hosted by the Fred Hutch Data Science Lab on the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center Campus in the Arnold Building, room M1-A303.

Join us for some social time, a great talk from King County Metro Data Scientists, and time for Q&A/socializing afterwards.

Talk Synopsis
R is a key part of Metro’s analytical toolbox because it allows analysts to iterate, integrate and improve. In this session, analysts from Metro will discuss two recent projects that are powered by R: our transit accessibility analysis, which uses the r5R package, and the analysis of Metro’s quarterly customer survey. The analysts will discuss their analysis process from designing methods to presenting results to stakeholders.

Melissa Gaughan
As a Transportation Analyst in King County Metro’s Service Planning workgroup, Melissa works on projects ranging from system restructures to implementing equity policy using data. She is the lead analyst on Metro’s Post-Pandemic Travel Trends project and is leading the agency’s efforts to integrate multi-source travel trend data into recovery planning efforts. Melissa is passionate about integrating data into transportation planning and is always on the lookout for ways to better integrate data into decision making in the service of equity and transparency. Melissa holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning as well as certificates in Database Management and Statistical Analysis.

Brian Van Abbema
Brian Van Abbema is a transportation analyst and planner at King County Metro with a focus on evidence gathering and evaluation of mobility solutions that complement fixed route transit. With four years of experience in piloting and evaluating flexible transit services, Brian has been working closely with on-demand mobility providers and King County’s Innovative Mobility and Service Planning teams to pilot new micro mobility solutions, and provide insightful analysis and an equity emphasis to Metro’s work to expand the options available to its residents. Brian has a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering and a master’s in GIS in Sustainability Management.

Claire Evans
Claire is a member of King County Metro's Research team and is a social science and survey researcher. Claire’s work focuses on how people's attitudes and behaviors are shaped by their built environments and social contexts. She manages Metro’s quarterly Rider/Non-Rider survey, which supports teams across Metro who are looking to incorporate data and evidence from current and potential customers into their programs and projects. Claire has a PhD in Political Science, with training rooted in research design, statistical analysis and inference, as well as qualitative research.

If you have any topics or ideas you would like to see us cover, please contact the meetup organizers, and we will see what we can do for future events.