Replace deprecated pkg_resources with importlib.resources

[Copilot]

pkg_resources is deprecated and slated for removal by 2025-11-30. This causes warnings throughout the codebase.

Changes

Removed unused import:

• activitysim/cli/create.py - file already used importlib.resources

Replaced resource path resolution in 13 test files:

# Before
import pkg_resources
path = pkg_resources.resource_filename("activitysim", resource)

# After
import importlib.resources
path = str(importlib.resources.files("activitysim").joinpath(resource))

Files Modified

• activitysim/cli/create.py
• activitysim/abm/test/test_pipeline/test_pipeline.py
• activitysim/abm/test/test_misc/{setup_utils.py,test_load_cached_accessibility.py}
• activitysim/examples/*/test/*.py (9 test files)
• activitysim/examples/prototype_mtc_extended/sampling_scenarios.py
• test/random_seed/test_random_seed.py

Uses standard library importlib.resources (Python 3.9+), compatible with project minimum requirement of Python 3.10+.

Original prompt

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This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Remove deprecated pkg_resources</issue_title>
<issue_description>Running ActivitySim currently warns:

UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.

This package is imported in activitysim/cli/create.py, and in several tests. ActivitySim needs to be refactored to not use this deprecated package, in favor of importlib.resources, importlib.metadata and their backports (importlib_resources, importlib_metadata). </issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes Remove deprecated pkg_resources #1010

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