Along with a collaborator from USC, I led a research project investigating the system safety implications of integrating autonomous and connected vehicle technology with Positive Train Control technology at grade crossings. We examined the question from technical feasibility, human factors, and safe systems perspectives, and proposed a tentative infrastructure system integrating these cutting edge technologies on both the rail and automotive sides.
I presented this work at the Institute of Transportation Engineers Western District Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California, in June 2025; and a variation at the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, in May 2025. The full paper is published in the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Annual Conference Proceedings.
This work earned the Institute of Transportation Engineers Best Student Paper and Daniel J. Epstein Outstanding Undergraduate Research awards.
