The North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA) has awarded Anindya Debnath, a doctoral academy fellow in civil engineering at the U of A, the Meddin Emerging Researcher Scholarship. The award recognizes Debnath's commitment to improving transportation equity and sustainability through research on shared micromobility systems in underserved communities.

The Meddin Emerging Researcher Scholarship, established in honor of Russell Meddin, a global advocate for bikeshare, provides promising researchers access to NABSA's extensive member resources, including the Knowledge Share database, virtual events and a complimentary pass to the 2025 NABSA conference in Montreal, Canada. Debnath's scholarship term runs from June 4, 2025, through May 31, 2026.

Debnath will use the scholarship year to advance his research on how people in smaller cities use shared micromobility systems like bikeshare and scootershare, and what prevents others, especially those with limited transportation options, from accessing them.

"My goal is to find ways to design shared micromobility systems that better serve everyone," Debnath said. "I study how shared micromobility systems, including bikeshare and other low-cost options, can fill these gaps and give more people better ways to travel."

His commitment to equitable transportation solutions is rooted in his personal experience growing up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where navigating daily commutes can be difficult and chaotic.

"Growing up in Dhaka, I saw how hard it is for people to move around in a crowded city without good transport options. This helped me understand the struggles people face when planning their daily trips, and it inspired me to work on solutions that make transportation easier and fairer for all," he said.

Debnath's academic journey has included a Fulbright Scholarship during his master's studies at Georgia Tech, where he developed a passion for using data and planning to improve real-world transportation systems. He is currently conducting doctoral research in the ZeRo (Zero Revolution Transportation Systems) Lab under Suman Mitra, assistant professor of civil engineering, with a focus on shared mobility and travel behavior modeling.

His research addresses challenges from the design and adoption of bikeshare systems in underserved areas to shifts in ridesourcing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Sustainable Cities and Society and Transportation Research Record, and he has contributed to a Springer Nature book on transportation policy in developing countries.

"I hope my research will help shift the focus of shared micromobility planning toward people who are often overlooked, especially people with limited transportation options in small cities." he said. "By identifying real barriers to shared micromobility use and testing practical ways to address them, I want to provide clear, data-driven guidance for policymakers and system operators."

Debnath sees NABSA's conference and resources as vital tools to collaborate with professionals working on similar challenges. He looks forward to learning from operators, planners and community groups, while contributing his findings to NABSA's Knowledge Share platform.

"My work aligns with NABSA's mission by focusing on who is left out of current micromobility systems and how we can bring them in," he said. "By studying real barriers and proposing solutions, I aim to help build transportation networks that serve a broader range of people and support sustainability goals."

To learn more on the Meddin Scholarship or NABSA's initiatives, visit nabsa.net.

To learn more about the ZeRo Lab, visit ZeRo Lab.