Date and time: Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 1:00 PM (CDT)
Speaker: Yichang (James) Tsai, PHD
Archive: Flier | Recording
About the talk
Horizontal road curves account for approximately 25% of fatal crashes in the U.S. while comprising only about 5% of roadway mileage. MUTCD-compliant curve warning signs with advisory speeds can reduce crashes by more than 40%, offering a cost-effective safety solution. This talk presents innovative solutions that leverage AI, low-cost smartphone and practical engineering designs to address curve safety challenges, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the NCHRP Innovation Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) program, and state Departments of Transportation. In addition, recent work leveraging large-scale telematics crowdsourcing data from logistics trucking fleets across North America, combined with our innovative technology, to enable scalable roadway safety assessment and inform systemwide safety improvements will be presented.
Speaker
Dr. Yichang (James) Tsai is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. His research applies advanced sensing, AI, computer vision, and GIS to automated pavement evaluation, transportation safety, aging population mobility, and energy and emission reduction. He led Georgia’s risk-based Pavement Management System (GPAMS), used by GDOT for over 15 years, and received the 2017 AASHTO High Value Research Award. A recognized global expert in AI- and sensor-based infrastructure health and safety assessment and asset management, he has served as an Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering since 2010.