The focus of Transportation Research: Part C (TR_C) is high-quality, scholarly research that addresses development, applications, and implications, in the field of transportation systems and emerging technologies . The interest is not in the individual technologies per se, but in their ultimate implications for the planning, design, operation, control, maintenance and rehabilitation of transportation systems, services and components. In other words, the intellectual core of the journal is on the transportation side, not on the technology side. The integration of quantitative methods from fields such as operations research, control systems, complex networks, computer science, artificial intelligence are encouraged.

Of particular interest are the impacts of emerging technologies on transportation system performance, in terms of monitoring, efficiency, safety, reliability, resource consumption and the environment. Submissions in the following areas of transportation are welcome: multimodal and intermodal transportation; on-demand transport; intelligent transportation systems; traffic and demand management; real-time operations; connected and autonomous vehicles; logistics; railways; resource and infrastructure management; aviation; pedestrians and soft modes.

Special emphasis is given in open science initiatives and promoting the opening of large-scale datasets for papers published in TR_C that can support transferability and benchmarking of different approaches. The realization of data opportunities that arise from emerging technologies and new sensors in transportation can revolutionize how this data reshape our understanding of congestion mechanisms and can contribute in efficient and sustainable mobility management.

Special Issue on Foundation Models and Large Language Models in Urban Mobility
Submission Date: 2025-10-31

Guest editors:

1) Xiaolei Ma, Beihang University, xiaolei@buaa.edu.cn
2) Zhenliang Ma, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, zhema@kth.se
3) Hao Frank Yang, Johns Hopkins University, haofrankyang@jhu.edu
4) Jiwon Kim, The University of Queensland, Australia, jiwon.kim@uq.edu.au
5) Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, University of Missouri, adugyamfiy@missouri.edu

Special issue information:

Foundation models and large language models (LLMs) represent a revolutionary shift in artificial intelligence, combining scalability, adaptability, and the ability to generalize across diverse tasks and modalities. Foundation models encompass a wide range of applications, integrating information from text, images, audio, and sensor data, enabling cross-domain capabilities. Meanwhile, LLMs, as a subset of foundation models, excel in natural language understanding and generation, providing tools to synthesize, interpret, and communicate complex information effectively.

In the field of transportation, the synergy between foundation models and LLMs offers immense potential to address the multifaceted challenges of urban mobility. Foundation models can process and integrate multimodal datasets for real-time traffic operation, public transit system optimization, and sustainable transportation planning. LLMs, on the other hand, enable advanced decision-making support, policy development, and stakeholder communication by interpreting urban mobility data and generating actionable insights.

This Special Issue seeks to explore the transformative applications of both foundation models and LLMs in urban mobility, emphasizing their ability to address technical, operational, and societal challenges. It invites contributions that highlight innovative methodologies, practical applications, and case studies, bringing together cutting-edge research and actionable insights. By examining the role of these models in reshaping transportation systems, this Special Issue aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and advance the field toward intelligent, inclusive, and sustainable urban mobility.

Specific Topics of Interest Include, but Are Not Limited To:

 Foundation models and LLMs for real-time traffic management
 Foundation models and LLMs in traffic safety applications
 Foundation models and LLMs for autonomous driving and intelligent vehicles
 Foundation models and LLMs for public transit system optimization
 Foundation models and LLMs in shared mobility and micromobility integration
 Foundation models and LLMs for predictive modeling and demand forecasting
 Foundation models and LLMs in transportation equity and accessibility improvements
 Foundation models and LLMs in Mobility as a Service (MaaS) integration
 Foundation models and LLMs for resilience and sustainability in transportation systems
 LLM agents for synthetic mobility generation
 Case studies showcasing foundation models and LLMs in smart city initiatives

Manuscript submission information:

All submissions must be original and may not be under review elsewhere. All manuscripts will be submitted via the Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies

(TRC) online submission system. Authors should indicate that the paper is submitted for consideration for publication in this special issue. When choosing Manuscript “Article Type” during the submission procedure, click “VSI: Foundation Models and LLMs”, otherwise your submission will be handled as a regular manuscript.

Author Guidelines:

All submitted papers should address significant issues pertinent to the theme of this issue and fall within the scope of TRC. Criteria for acceptance include originality, contribution and scientific merit. All manuscripts must be written in English with high scientific writing standards. Acceptance for publication will be based on referees’ and editors’ recommendations, following a detailed peer review process.

Keywords:

Foundation models; Large language models; urban mobility; multimodal transportation; transportation big data analytics; Generative AI in mobility; cross-domain generalization

Special Issue on Innovations for operation and pricing of public mobility services
Submission Date: 2025-12-31

Guest editors:

1) Jan-Dirk Schmöcker - Dep. of Urban Management, Kyoto University. Japan:schmoecker@trans.kuciv.kyoto-u.ac.jp
2) Fumitaka Kurauchi - Gifu University, Department of Civil Engineering. Japan: kurauchi.fumitaka.c3@f.gifu-u.ac.jp
3) Oded Cats - Department of Transport and Planning, TU Delft, Netherlands : O.Cats@tudelft.nl
4) Joseph Chow - Department of Civil & Urban Engineering, NYU, USA : joseph.chow@nyu.ed
5) Kun An - Department of Transportation Engineering at Tongji University: kunan@tongji.edu.cn 

Special issue information:

New forms of transport are changing mobility in our cities. The term “public transport” now includes a whole range of new modes that are complementing and competing with traditional bus and rail services. Notable are shared micro-mobility services in its various forms such as e-bikes, kickboards and scooters. Further carsharing and transport network companies are by now established forms of transport with significant modal shares in many cities.

Besides supply changes, also travel patterns are changing. The post COVID “New normal” with more flexible working hours and other life-style changes contribute to public transport operators adjusting their operations and pricing. Also increasing reliance on real-time information about transport services as well as the real-time booking and adjustment of activities mean that there is an increasing expectation of transport service operators to provide flexible services.

To respond to these expectations, challenges and opportunities, and, at the same time, remain profitable and address environmental sustainability issues, new operational strategies and business models are needed. In this special issue we invite contributions that analytically formulate or simulate such ideas. We welcome submissions using original and open data sources but also accept theoretical studies. Of particular interest are studies on novel fare strategies that address multimodal aspects and that integrate different modes of transport. “Mobility as a Service”, in its various forms, is clearly one strategy, but also dynamic pricing, (carbon) credit schemes, fare capping and “premium fares” that provide customers with added services are concepts currently being explored. For shared mobility services, also incentives to minimize relocation needs or appropriate settings of “geofencing zones” are topics of interest. We also welcome contributions that discuss the strategies and impacts of spatial and temporal distributions of mobility services. This also includes topics related to various forms of demand responsive transport and general service scheduling issues.

Manuscript submission information:

All submissions must be original and may not be under review elsewhere. All manuscripts will be submitted via the Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies

(TRC) online submission system. Authors should indicate that the paper is submitted for consideration for publication in this special issue. When choosing Manuscript “Article Type” during the submission procedure, click “VSI - Public Mobility Services”, otherwise your submission will be handled as a regular manuscript.

Author Guidelines:

All submitted papers should address significant issues pertinent to the theme of this issue and fall within the scope of TRC. Criteria for acceptance include originality, contribution and scientific merit. All manuscripts must be written in English with high scientific writing standards. Acceptance for publication will be based on referees’ and editors’ recommendations, following a detailed peer review process.

Keywords:
Public Transportation; Shared Mobility; Pricing; Operational Strategies