Transport and traffic engineer, urbanist and researcher based in Santiago, Chile.
I work at the intersection of urban mobility, public transport, metro and rail systems, urban planning, spatial analysis, data and applied technology. My work connects engineering and operations with passenger experience, accessibility, urban design and public policy.
I have nearly two decades of professional experience and have studied and visited 40+ metro systems in 22 countries across four continents. I hold a Master's degree in Urban Planning and I am a PhD(c) in Territory, Space and Society at Universidad de Chile, researching mobility and transport systems.
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- Metro & rail systems — station design, passenger–infrastructure interaction, capacity, operations and accessibility.
- Public transport data — GTFS, real-time monitoring, service performance and operational analytics.
- Urban accessibility — spatial analysis, territorial indicators and accessibility to opportunities.
- Computer vision & sensing — AI, video analytics, drones and automated observation of mobility.
- Cycling mobility, street design & road safety — I approach cycling both as a researcher and transport engineer, working on cycleway design, network planning, traffic calming, pedestrian mobility and safer urban environments.
- Transport policy — applied research connecting technical evidence with planning and public decision-making.
- Transport and mobility consultant for public and private institutions, including ECLAC/CEPAL and UNDP/PNUD.
- Former lecturer in Transport Engineering at UTEM, UNAB and PUCV.
- Specialized training in urban development and transport infrastructure in Beijing and CBTC railway control systems in Shanghai.
- Research and professional work on Metro systems, public transport, urban accessibility, cycling and road safety.
- Co-author of Chilean Ministry of Transport manuals for the design of cycleways and traffic-calmed zones, contributing technical criteria used in the planning and design of cycling infrastructure and low-speed urban environments.
- Lecturer in the Diploma in Cycleway Design at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV)
- SOCHITRAN 2021 Award for the emergency cycleway project developed with NGO's.
- Technical and judicial expert work in transport engineering and road crash analysis.
My research interests are centered on how people actually experience transport systems: how infrastructure, operations, information, urban form and individual behaviour interact during a journey.
A significant part of my work focuses on Metro stations and passenger experience, including platforms, escalators, accessibility, pedestrian behaviour, boarding and alighting processes, and the relationship between technical design and everyday mobility.
I also work on cycling mobility as both a researcher and an engineer, linking empirical research with the design and implementation of cycling infrastructure, traffic-calmed environments and public policy. I am co-author of Chilean Ministry of Transport manuals used to guide and regulate the design of cycleways and traffic-calmed zones, and I teach in the Diploma in Cycleway Design at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV).
I also develop computational tools and knowledge infrastructures to observe and understand mobility using geospatial data, simulation, computer vision, real-time transport data and reproducible research workflows.
Decision-support tool developed by the Infrastructure and Transport Division of the Metropolitan Regional Government of Santiago to evaluate and prioritize cycling infrastructure as part of a network rather than as isolated projects.
EVA integrates connectivity, accessibility, territorial equity, road safety, intermodality and other criteria in a sequential multicriteria model. As each project is incorporated, the network changes and the remaining portfolio is evaluated again.
The project combines transport engineering, spatial analysis, reproducible computation and public-sector decision support.
Open computer-vision platform for observing, measuring and auditing mobility and the use of public space.
Its objective is to transform video into reproducible trajectories and mobility events, moving beyond simple object detection. The project emphasizes privacy by design, traceability, multi-object tracking, spatial rules and scientific validation against manual observations.
Python · GIS / QGIS · GTFS · OpenStreetMap · Mapbox · H3 · Docker · GitHub Actions · AnyLogic · Aimsun · Vissim · Computer Vision · Drones · Spatial Analysis · Transport Modelling
I am interested in research collaborations, transport and mobility projects, applied urban analytics and interdisciplinary work connecting engineering, cities, technology and public policy.
Santiago, Chile
Website · Articles · LinkedIn · Twitter / @arieIIopez · ResearchGate · Email
Soy ingeniero en transporte y tránsito, magíster en Urbanismo e investigador en movilidad. Mi trabajo se desarrolla entre la ingeniería de transporte, los sistemas Metro y ferroviarios, la planificación urbana, el análisis territorial, los datos y las nuevas tecnologías.
He estudiado y recorrido más de 40 sistemas de Metro en 22 países de cuatro continentes. Investigo especialmente la relación entre pasajeros, infraestructura y operación, y desarrollo herramientas basadas en datos, simulación, SIG, visión artificial y sensores para estudiar cómo funcionan realmente los sistemas de movilidad y las ciudades.
También abordo la movilidad ciclista como investigador e ingeniero, vinculando investigación, diseño de infraestructura y política pública. Soy coautor de manuales del Ministerio de Transportes y Telecomunicaciones de Chile para el diseño de ciclovías y zonas de tránsito calmado, y participo como docente en el Diplomado de Diseño de Ciclovías de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV): diplomado.ciclovias.cl.
Una parte creciente de mi trabajo consiste en construir infraestructura de conocimiento reproducible: sistemas que permiten pasar desde documentos, datos y observaciones dispersas hacia evidencia trazable que pueda utilizarse para investigación, planificación y política pública.
Mi interés está en conectar la investigación con problemas concretos: mejor transporte público, mayor accesibilidad, calles más seguras y decisiones públicas sustentadas en evidencia.
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