UFTI University of Florida Transportation Institute

What does the future of transportation look like?

Students explored that question during the WTS Gator Student Chapter Transportation Symposium at the I-STREET Living Lab in May. Industry professionals from , HDR, Iteris, and Kimley-Horn shared insights on transportation resilience, sustainability, mobility, intelligent transportation systems, EV infrastructure, and career development.

The event also gave students an opportunity to connect directly with transportation professionals and learn about careers in the industry.

Interested in joining the WTS Gator Student Chapter? Contact Stephanie Altemburger at [email protected] or follow .wts on Instagram.

Sanidhya Dadia is a doctoral student in the UF Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering. His research focuses on improving roadway safety in communities. Dadia was recently featured on Tech Tuesday.

View the segment at https://vimeo.com/1180536034/ddda045761

He started college studying architecture. A mentor later told him he was really a "social architect" - a person who focuses on how people experience their communities. That insight helped Benito Pérez find his path in urban planning and transportation, eventually becoming the University of Florida's first dual-degree graduate in urban planning and transportation engineering. Today, he oversees the largest transit capital portfolio in Illinois history, helping communities turn transportation projects into reality.

Read about his journey, lessons learned and advice for the next generation of transportation professionals. https://www.transportation.institute.ufl.edu/2026/05/19/from-social-architect-to-transportation-leader-how-uf-alum-benito-perez-is-reshaping-transportation/

When global disruptions happen, most of us notice higher prices at the grocery store or gas pump.

But those same disruptions can also affect transportation projects, driving up costs, delaying schedules, and creating challenges for agencies and contractors.

UF doctoral student Olusegun Adekunye is studying how events such as supply chain disruptions, extreme weather, pandemics, and international conflicts ripple through transportation projects, and what happens when budgets and timelines suddenly change.

Read more: https://www.transportation.institute.ufl.edu/2026/05/20/when-global-disruptions-happen-transportation-projects-feel-the-impact/

Duanya Lyu Studies Ways to Improve Transit Systems that Meet People's Needs.

How can a city run a better and more reliable transit service that people feel comfortable using? That is the question at the center of Duanya Lyu’s doctoral research in transportation engineering at the University of Florida. Lyu’s dissertation focuses on making cities' transit services more reliable so that more people feel comfortable choosing buses and other public transportation options, such as microtransit (on-demand shuttle services) that help riders connect to other transit routes.

Find her story at https://www.transportation.institute.ufl.edu/2026/03/17/duanya-lyu-studies-ways-to-improve-transit-systems-that-meet-peoples-needs/

UF Alumnus Wei Sun develops AI solutions connecting research with real-world applications

Transportation research is most meaningful when it leads to solutions that benefit society. For Dr. Wei Sun, that mindset, further reinforced during graduate school, has shaped much of his career. Less than a decade after graduating from UF, Sun is now the co-founder and CEO of AIWaysion, a company that uses the power of artificial intelligence and edge computing to help transportation agencies analyze traffic behavior, improve safety and mobility operations. His company is dog-friendly, too! 🐕 ✨

Read more at https://www.transportation.institute.ufl.edu/2026/03/17/uf-alumnus-wei-sun-develops-ai-solutions-connecting-research-with-real-world-applications/

The City of Key West, Florida, has adopted its Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, marking this an important step toward safer streets across the city. The plan was developed by the UFTI's T2 Center and includes clear, practical steps to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries while advancing the City's Vision Zero goals. Over the past year, the UF team analyzed crash data, conducted roadway safety audits, held stakeholder meetings, engaged with the community to better understand the transportation safety challenges across Key West, and identified targeted strategies for improvement.

Explore the Safety Action Plan: https://cityofkeywest-fl.gov/1158/Safety-Action-Plan

use a range of sensors to understand and navigate their environment. They use cameras and other technologies to detect the positions and distances of nearby vehicles, pedestrians, animals and road objects, allowing them to drive safely on our streets and highways.

But what happens when there is intentional interference with those sensors?💡

How can these types of vehicles be kept safe in such a situation?💡

That is the research question that Yu Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and his doctoral student, Nathaniel Smith, are trying to answer.

More at 🔗 in bio

use a range of sensors to understand and navigate their environment. They use cameras and other technologies to detect the positions and distances of nearby vehicles, pedestrians, animals and road objects, allowing them to drive safely on our streets and highways. But what happens when there is intentional interference with those sensors? How can these types of vehicles be kept safe in such a situation? That is the research question that Yu Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and his doctoral student, Nathaniel Smith, are trying to answer.

Read more at https://www.transportation.institute.ufl.edu/2026/03/23/uf-researchers-look-at-how-autonomous-vehicles-behave-when-sensors-are-manipulated/