The Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine is proud to spotlight faculty researcher Dr. Wenlong Jin for his contributions to the Pre-College Research Immersion Program (PRIME) and his dedication to advancing the future of automated transportation.
At ITS, Dr. Jin approaches real-world transportation challenges with rigorous mathematical modeling. His methodology strikes a balance between the technical and human-centered systems that comprise transportation.
“I really like transportation because it sits at the intersection of engineering, economics, sociology, and planning. In many ways, it’s a mirror of society itself.”
Currently, Dr. Jin’s research centers on automated vehicle safety. In a two-part study released this year, Dr. Jin explored Provably Safe and Human-Like Car-Following Behaviors. In addition to identifying the limitations in existing car-following models (including safety issues in particular scenarios), Dr. Jin’s study develops a new multi-phase, projection-based model for automated vehicles (AVs). This model combines provable safety with human-like driving, a crucial aspect of road sharing between AVs and human drivers.
“Without the human-like element, automated cars could be too aggressive or too timid. Either way, it creates surprises for human drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians—and that’s where safety issues arise.”
This summer, Dr. Jin led high school student, Alex Wang, in the 2025 PRIME program with the support of PhD student Jooneui Hong. Their project focused on a data-driven analysis of HOV-to-HOT lane conversions, examining impacts on general-purpose lane users and equity. Dr. Jin’s mentorship is a part of his deep commitment to giving young researchers hands-on exposure to data analysis and real-world transportation questions.
“My goal was to pair Alex with a PhD student so he could experience what cutting-edge research looks like at a university. It’s about more than data—it’s about learning how to ask the right questions.”
Dr. Jin hopes the future of transportation is safer, more efficient, more equitable, and a pathway to better understanding human behaviors. Through his mathematical models, Dr. Jin is formalizing safety, efficiency, and fairness so that we may test the assumptions behind our systems before putting them into the real world.
“Transportation is a reflection of humanity. If we can design safer and fairer systems here, maybe we can learn something about improving society as a whole.”
Author Erin Boshers is a recent graduate of Urban Studies and Literary Journalism at UC Irvine. She has conducted transportation and housing research through roles at Caltrans, the Kennedy Commission, Jamboree Housing, and the Institute of Transportation Studies.
Each summer, the ITS-Irvine Transportation Research Immersion Program (TRIP) and the Pre-college Research Immersion Program pairs undergraduate and high school student researchers with faculty to contribute meaningfully to ongoing transportation research projects. To learn more about these programs, contact ITS-Irvine Assistant Director for Programs and engagement Dr. Victoria Deguzman at vvdeguzm@uci.edu.