My name is Lei Zhang.
I am an Assistant Professor in the School
of Civil and Construction Engineering at Oregon
State University. My research interests include advanced
travel demand modeling, transportation planning, transportation
economics and policy, traffic operations, and the application
of optimization, econometric, artificial intelligence, and
agent-based methods in transportation systems analysis. You
may view my research group (iTram)
wiki, papers and projects.
I earned a Ph.D. with
a major in Transportation Engineering and a minor in Industrial
Engineering and Operations Research at University
of Minnesota in 2006. My dissertation "Search, Information,
Learning, and Knowledge in Travel Decision Making" develops
a positive approach for travel behavior and demand analysis,
including a theory of the multi-dimensional travel decision
making process devoid of assumptions of perfect information
and rationality, a quantitative modeling framework, model
development, and large-scale applications. One application
of the positive approach defines the "Behavioral User
Equilibrium" principles for traffic assignment and activity-based
models.
I hold master's degrees
in Civil Engineering (2002)
and Applied Economics
(2005) from University of Minnesota. My thesis "Developing
Efficient and Equitable Ramp Control Strategies" won
the 2002 CUTC Award for the best North American thesis in
transportation science and technology. My research work in
transportation economics began with my thesis in Applied Economics
which develops an evolutionary network growth model for transportation
economics and policy analysis with applications in road pricing,
network investment, innovative financing, and ownership structures.
You can also access my class webpages: CE491,
CE591.
