Seung Jun Choi, PhD
Seung Jun Choi, PhD
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Welcome! I'm an incoming Assistant Professor in Geography, Planning, and Recreation within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University.
My research focuses on urban informatics, AI, and smart transportation. I take an interdisciplinary approach that integrates planning, engineering, computer science, information, and public policy. As a planner, I aim to leverage urban technology to tackle emerging urban challenges.
I earned both my Master’s and Ph.D. in Community and Regional Planning from The University of Texas at Austin. I was the first in the program’s history to complete the PhD within three years.
I'm a certified planner in both the U.S. (AICP) and South Korea (KEUP).
Ph.D. in Community and Regional Planning, School of Architecture, May 2025
MSc. in Community and Regional Planning, School of Architecture, May 2022
Contact
jun.choi@utexas.edu
Selected Awards
2025: UT School of Architecture’s Outstanding Dissertation in Community and Regional Planning
2024: Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Austin Chapter Scholarship
2022: National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship in Ethical AI
2018: Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Commendation from S. Korea
PUBLICATIONS
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed Article
*Primary/Corresponding Author
Jiao, J., & Choi, S. J.* (2025). Built Environment and Public Electric Vehicle Charging: An Investigation Using POI Data and Computer Vision. Public Transport. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12469-024-00383-6
Choi, S. J.*, Jiao, J., & Mendez, T. (2024). Who owns Electric Vehicles (EVs)? The relationship between EV adoption and socio-demographic characteristics across different price segments and brands in the Texas Triangle. Research in Transportation Business and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2024.101225
Jiao, J., Choi S. J.*, & Nguyen, C. (2024). Toward an Equitable Transportation Electrification Plan: Measuring Public Electric Vehicle Charging Station Access Disparities in Austin, TX. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309302
(cs) Choi, S. J.*, & Jiao, J. (2024). Uncovering Electric Vehicle Ownership Disparities Using K-means Clustering Analysis: A Case Study of Austin, Texas. Journal of Computational Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-024-00310-6
Choi, S. J.*, Jiao, J., & Karner, A. (2024) Tracing the Effects of COVID-19 on Short and Long Bike-sharing Trips using Machine Learning. Travel Behaviour & Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2024.100738
Choi, S. J.,* & Jiao, J. (2024). Measurement of Regional Electric Vehicle Adoption Using Multiagent Deep Reinforcement Learning. Applied Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14051826
Choi, S. J.,* & Jiao, J. (2024). Developing a Transit Desert Interactive Dashboard: Supervised Modeling for Forecasting Transit Deserts. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306782
Seong, K., Choi, S. J.*, & Jiao, J. (2024). IoT Sensors as a Tool for Assessing Spatiotemporal Risk to Extreme Heat. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2024.2320257
Choi, S. J., Jiao, J., Lee, H.*, & Farahi, A. (2023). Combatting the Mismatch: Modeling Bike-sharing Rental and Return Machine Learning Classification Forecast in Seoul, South Korea. Journal of Transport Geography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2023.103587
Jiao, J., Choi, S. J.*, Wang, H., & Farahi, A. (2023) Evaluating Air Quality Status in Chicago: Application of Street View Imagery and Urban Climate Sensors. Environmental Modeling & Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10666-023-09894-1
Jiao, J., Lee, H.*., & Choi, S. J. (2022). Impacts of COVID-19 on Bike-Sharing Usages in Seoul, South Korea. Cities. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103849
(cs) Jiao, J., Choi, S. J.*, & Xu, W. (2021). Tracking Property Ownership Variance and Forecasting Housing Price with Machine Learning and Deep Learning. IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9671298
Lee, H., Choi, S. J.*, & Jiao, J. (2021). Examining the COVID-19 Effects on Travel Behavior Using Smart IoT Sensors: A Case Study of Smart City Planning in Gangnam, Seoul. International Journal of Sustainable Building Technology and Urban Development https://doi.org/10.22712/susb.20210029
Jiao, J., Bai, S., & Choi, S. J.* (2021). Understanding E-scooter Incidents Patterns in Street Network Perspective: A Case Study of Travis County, Texas. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910583
Lee, H., Jiao, J.* & Choi, S. J. (2021). Identifying Spatiotemporal Transit Deserts in Seoul, South Korea. Journal of Transport Geography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103145
Research Report
Jiao, J.*, & Choi, S. J. (2024). Examining the Impacts of Land Use on Air Quality in Chicago: Application of Street View Imagery and Hyperlocal Urban Climate Sensing. Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM2) Report. https://sites.utexas.edu/cm2/files/2024/11/Year6_JiaoExamining-the-Impacts-of-Land-Use-on-Air-Quality-in-Chicago-Application-of-Street-View-Imagery-and-Hyperlocal-Urban-Climate-Sensing.pdf
Seong, K.*, & Choi, S. J. (2022). Extreme Heat and Particulate Matter Exposure and Risk Assessment in Seoul Metropolitan Region. Small Grant Research Program. The Seoul Institute. https://www.si.re.kr/node/66564
Karner, A.*, Shuster, J., Tucker, R., Banker, C., Butcher, V. Byrne, V., Chen, Y., Choi, S. J., Gay, J., Mabalatan, F., Meijia, M., Randall, P., Vargas, A., Vearil, K., & Willis, O. (2022). Austin Transit Report: Transit Rider Needs and Visions in the Texas State Capital. Community and Regional Planning, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin. https://sites.utexas.edu/karner/files/2022/10/ATX-Transit-Report-FINAL.pdf
Op-ed
Choi, S. J. (2023). Exploring beyond the Routes. The Daily Texan. https://thedailytexan.com/2023/11/10/exploring-beyond-the-routes/
PRESENTATIONS
PRESENTATIONS
2025
Global Exchange Session on AI, Data Science, and Smart Cities with Hiroshima University, Japan
UT Good Systems Symposium
Invest and Trade Western Australia Delegation
TRB 2025 Annual Meeting
2024
ACSP 2024 Annual Conference
Smart Mobility & AI Symposium
UT Energy Week 2024
2023
ACSP 2023 Annual Conference
City of Austin - UT Ausitn Partnership Showcase
Smart Cities and Generative AI Symposium
UT Energy Week 2023
TRB 2023 Annual Meeting
2022
ACSP 2022 Annual Conference
SBE 2022 Seoul Conference
2021
IEEE BigData 2021 International Conference
ACSP 2021 Annual Conference
TEACHING
TEACHING
Fall 2022, 2023, 2024
Head Teaching Assistant, Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin, CS395T Case Studies in Machine Learning
Spring – Summer, 2024
Teaching Assistant, President’s Award for Global Learning 2024 Faculty Program, The University of Texas at Austin, LA 329 Global Learning Seminar-Japan
Spring 2023, 2025
Teaching Assistant, School of Undergraduate Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, UGS302 Ethical AI: Good Systems
Fall 2021 – Spring 2022
Course Development, Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin, CS395T Case Studies in Machine Learning
Guest Lecture Series
Spring 2024
School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin. Smart City
Fall 2023
Texas Prison Education Initiative (TPEI). URB301. Introduction to Urban Studies/Planning
Fall 2022, 2023
School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin CRP386. Urban Geographic Information System (GIS)
Summer 2023
Department of Real Estate and Urban Planning, Dankook University. Career and Entrepreneurship Seminar
Prof. Bjorn's Potluck
Visit to Nagoya University
With Terrific Students!
Research: Featured Publications
My research emphasizes visual communication to transparently communicate with communities.
Impacts of COVID-19 on bike-sharing usages in Seoul, South Korea, Cities
Junfeng Jiao, Hye Kyung Lee, Seung Jun Choi; 2022
This study analyzes how COVID-19 affected bike-sharing in Seoul using real-time telecommunication and urban data. It finds that warmer weather, green spaces, and floating populations increased bike usage, while COVID-19 positively impacted both trip count and duration, suggesting bike-sharing as a resilient urban mobility option during pandemics.
Developing a transit desert interactive dashboard: Supervised modeling for forecasting transit deserts, PLOS ONE
Seung Jun Choi, Junfeng Jiao; 2024
This study develops a machine learning-based dashboard to forecast transit deserts in Seoul. By analyzing transit demand and supply factors, disaggregated by gender, the model identifies equity gaps and suggests tailored interventions. The dashboard integrates AI tools to support community-informed, participatory transit planning.
Path Towards Urban AI
Path Towards Urban AI
My research focuses on optimizing the city platform.
We should acquire new users.
We should activate new patterns.
We should secure a retention rate.
Community and human-centered tools should be developed.
Who owns Electric Vehicles (EVs)? The relationship between EV adoption and socio-demographic characteristics across different price segments and brands in the Texas triangle, Research in Transportation Business and Management
Seung Jun Choi, Junfeng Jiao, Tigris Mendez; 2024
This study analyzes EV adoption patterns in Texas by price tier and brand, using spatial and clustering analyses. Results show EV ownership is concentrated among affluent, White communities, particularly for Tesla. Disparities in charger availability and adoption persist, underscoring the need for equitable policy interventions targeting disadvantaged populations.
Combatting the mismatch: Modeling bike-sharing rental and return machine learning classification forecast in Seoul, South Korea, Journal of Transport Geography
Seung Jun Choi, Junfeng Jiao, Hye Kyung Lee, Arya Farahi; 2023
This study models bike-sharing rental and return mismatches in Seoul using tree-based machine learning and landscape metrics. By analyzing spatiotemporal gaps, climate, land use, and urban form, it identifies factors driving imbalances and proposes data-driven strategies to improve bike rebalancing and station planning.
Evaluating Air Quality Status in Chicago: Application of Street View Imagery and Urban Climate Sensors, Environmental Modeling & Assessment
Junfeng Jiao, Seung Jun Choi, Huihai Wang, Arya Farahi; 2023
This study evaluates air quality in Chicago using Microsoft's Project Eclipse sensors and Google Street View imagery. By combining street-level visual data and machine learning, it identifies land use factors impacting air quality and reveals hyperlocal pollution disparities, highlighting the need for sensor-informed, community-centered urban planning interventions.
Ongoing Research: Developing GenAI Applications, AI Assistants, and Digital Twin
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