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The Artificial Intelligence in Transportation (AIT) Lab at Texas State University made a significant impact at the 105th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (TRBAM 2026) in Washington, D.C., presenting more than 40 peer-reviewed papers across multiple technical sessions. Beyond dissemination, TRBAM functioned as a major innovation marketplace, and engagement with core stakeholders directly advanced our innovation ‘PedSense’ through customer discovery and early validation, yielding critical feedback on real-world needs, deployment constraints, data integration, and problem–solution fit.
The Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting is widely recognized as one of the world’s premier forums for transportation research, attracting more than 10,000 researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders annually. The AIT Lab’s extensive and visible participation underscores its growing national and international prominence in advancing the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data-driven methodologies to address critical challenges in transportation safety, operations, and mobility.
The AIT Lab delegation was led by Dr. Subasish Das, Director of the AIT Lab, and included the following student researchers:
Together, the team contributed presentations covering a wide range of topics, including crash severity modeling, autonomous vehicle safety, explainable artificial intelligence, pedestrian and micromobility risk analysis, urban mobility analytics, and social media–based transportation perception studies.
View the complete interactive TRBAM 2026 presentation schedule →
Across oral and poster sessions, AIT Lab researchers showcased work leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning, deep learning, and explainable AI frameworks to analyze large-scale transportation datasets. These studies aim to improve injury severity prediction, enhance infrastructure safety assessment, and better understand public perceptions of emerging mobility technologies.
Dr. Das emphasized the importance of student-centered research engagement:
TRB provides an exceptional platform for interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. I am proud of our students and researchers for their dedication and the breadth of work they presented. Their contributions demonstrate how computational approaches can directly inform transportation policy and safety practice.
A key highlight of this year’s participation was the strong involvement of student researchers, including undergraduate contributors, who actively presented their work, attended committee meetings, and engaged with experts from academia, government agencies, and industry. For many, TRBAM 2026 marked their first international research conference, offering valuable professional exposure and networking opportunities.
The Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting functions as one of the largest global marketplaces for transportation innovation, featuring more than 100 exhibitors representing industry leaders, startups, DOTs, and technology providers. Participation in this forum directly advanced the development of the PedSense invention by facilitating structured customer discovery and early-stage market validation.
AIT Lab researchers engaged extensively with representatives from state and local DOTs, Vision Zero program offices, and leading transportation technology and infrastructure firms including AECOM, WSP, HNTB, Arcadis, Jacobs, HDR and STV to asses real-world needs related to pedestrian detection, risk analytics, and system deployment. These interactions generated critical insights into problem–solution alignment, operational performance requirements, data integration and interoperability challenges, as well as institutional procurement pathways, thereby strengthening the invention’s technical and commercialization readiness.
The AIT Lab’s presence at TRBAM 2026 underscores Texas State University’s expanding role in transportation-focused artificial intelligence research. Through continued collaboration with academic partners, transportation agencies, and industry stakeholders, the lab remains committed to developing data-driven solutions that advance roadway safety, support equitable mobility, and foster resilient transportation systems.
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