The Illinois Center for Transportation has named CEE Professor Yanfeng Ouyang, University of Illinois George Krambles Endowed Professor in Rail and Public Transit, as its Associate Director for Mobility.
Ouyang’s role, which began August 16, will include promoting ICT’s collaborative research activities with other UIUC units, industry partners and peer institutions.
He will also support and develop new research initiatives in the areas of autonomous, connected, electrified and shared mobility systems.
Ouyang’s goals include engaging a broader range of federal, state, local and private sponsors to help expand ICT’s research activities on promoting future mobility — including those supporting the development of the Illinois Autonomous and Connected Track.
He also aims to further strengthen ICT’s education and outreach efforts.
Key issues Ouyang hopes ICT will explore include sustainable and equitable mobility systems for passengers and freight in urban and rural areas, types of technology-enabled mobility services that will best serve the future, policies to manage mobility supply and demand, and future mobility and energy solutions to improve community resilience and quality of life.
Ouyang has served as a Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty member since 2005.
His research involves transportation systems engineering, with a focus on mobility service planning, network optimization and operations control for efficiency, resilience and sustainability.
Ouyang, an ICT researcher since 2006, is involved with several ongoing Illinois Department of Transportation-sponsored projects involving transit ridership and needs as well as transportation safety.
His recent ICT-IDOT projects are listed as follows:
R27-246: Development of Design Guidance for Smart Work Zone Systems
R27-264: Development of a Pavement Friction Management Program
R27-SP45: Quantifying Impacts of Prolonged Events on Transit System Ridership
R27-SP53: Statistical Analysis of COVID-19’s Impact on Transit Ridership for CTA Rail, CTA Bus, PACE and METRA (Pilot Study)
R27-SP55: Development of Guidelines for Messages in Dynamic Messaging Signs to Improve Safety, Compliance, and Avoid Distraction
R27-SP58: Investigating Statewide Transit Maintenance Needs
Ouyang is grateful for the opportunity to join ICT’s team and to help promote the future of emerging mobility services.
“I was fortunate to join UIUC in the same year when ICT was established,” Ouyang said. “It is a true pleasure and honor to join the ICT team and contribute to the exciting efforts in the years to come.”