Bridging Transport's Academic-Practitioner Divide

I recently wrote this article for the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney on a solution to getting more academic transport research applied in the real world. I have duplicated the article below.

Key Takeaways

• There is a disconnect between transport research and real-world application that helps no one.
• Barriers include:
  • Technical language
  • Language diversity
  • Time constraints
  • Specialisation
  • Access
  • Relevance
  • Prioritisation
• A customised-AI enabled newsletter could help close the gap. It would:
  • Proactively deliver research updates.
  • Provide accessible summaries.
  • Personalise content.
  • Facilitate connections.
  • Enable feedback
  • Provide implementation guidance
• There are a number of challenges that need to be overcome:
  • Quality control
  • Sustaining participation
  • Funding sustainability
  • Measurement of impact
  • Information overload

What Next?

Please let me know what you think of the idea.

Introduction

Transport research often takes over a decade to reach practical implementation, if it ever does. This disconnect serves no one: not academics, practitioners, or the public using our transport systems.

There has long been a desire to close the gap between academic research and on-the-ground implementation, and many approaches have been tried, but the gap remains. What is holding us back?

The Barriers

1. Technical Language While practitioners use transport terminology daily, academic language in journals remains challenging even to experienced professionals. This discourages practitioners from reading journals or engaging with researchers.
2. Language Diversity Valuable transport research exists in many languages. We risk missing important insights simply because they weren’t written in the practitioner’s language.
3. Time Constraints Practitioners rarely have time to search for and thoroughly read research that might be relevant to their work.
4. Specialisation Transport professionals typically focus on specific areas. They need targeted access to relevant research without wading through unrelated material.
5. Limited Follow-up Access Implementation typically requires more than just reading a paper. Practitioners need easy ways to contact researchers for follow-up questions.
6. Making Research Relevant Research varies greatly in its relevance and applicability to on-the-ground implementation. Practitioners need easy ways to provide feedback to researchers on the usefulness of their research.
7. Prioritisation Challenges Practitioners must decide how to implement research findings within existing constraints. However, most research offers little guidance on relative importance compared to other priorities in the same domain.

Existing research tools are designed for academics, not practitioners, further widening the gap.

The Solution: A Practitioner-Focused Research Tool

We need a tool that:

• Proactively delivers global research updates to practitioners, likely via email
• Provides accessible summaries in the practitioner’s preferred language
• Personalises content based on individual professional interests
• Facilitates connection with researchers through contact information
• Enables quick feedback on the relevance of research
• Offers implementation guidance on the relative priority of research findings

The first four elements can be readily developed using AI and translation software in a customised newsletter format. It is easy to build tools for practitioners to provide feedback quickly on the relevance of research to what they do. The prioritisation component requires more development, but successful models exist in other fields. The Education Endowment Foundation, for example, translates education research into prioritised teaching strategies (see image). A similar approach in transport could transform how research is implemented.

Implementation Approach

Modern technology makes this solution technically feasible and relatively easy to create, though strategies to manage AI limitations will be necessary. The tool could begin as a university-funded project before being spun out of the lab. A subscription model where practitioners or their organisations pay for the service could provide sustainable funding. If successful in transport, this approach could extend to other disciplines with similar academic-practitioner divides.

Stakeholder Benefits

This tool could provide many benefits.

For Academics:

• Increased research impact and visibility
• Collaborative opportunities with transport agencies
• Enhanced justification for research funding through demonstrated real-world application
• Feedback that can inform future research directions

For Practitioners:

• Access to cutting-edge solutions
• Evidence-based decision-making
• Professional development through exposure to the latest thinking

For Transport Users and the Public:

• Improved service quality through faster implementation of innovations
• More efficient use of public resources through evidence-based practices
• More sustainable and inclusive transport systems informed by comprehensive research

Potential Challenges and Mitigations

Quality Control

AI is a powerful tool, but it has drawbacks, such as hallucinations. Any system will need to implement expert review processes and feedback mechanisms where AI has helped to create content.

Sustaining Participation

Key will be ensuring that there is ongoing use by busy practitioners. This will require a continual focus on understanding and meeting the needs of practitioners.

Funding Sustainability

Transitioning from start-up funding into a fully fledged self-sustaining model is critical. Developing appropriate subscription options and partnerships will be essential.

Measurement of Impact

A key mission of the solution is to create an impact and that will mean developing ways of quantifying its effectiveness, ideally in transport outcomes.

Managing Information Overload

Large volumes of research are constantly being generated. There is a risk that, despite filtering, practitioners either face information overload or do not get to see the most important papers in their field. Prioritisation algorithms that meet the needs of practitioners will be critical to success.

Additional Benefits

While this tool focuses on making research more accessible, it should also help holistically to reduce barriers between academics and practitioners. By making research more approachable, it should encourage greater interaction and mutual learning between them.

Next Steps

This concept promises benefits for academics, practitioners, and transport users alike. The next step is to develop a detailed proposal to secure initial funding. By bridging this gap, we can accelerate the implementation of valuable research insights and improve transport systems for everyone.