Dr. Ran is an expert in dynamic transportation network models, traffic simulation and control, traffic information system, and Connected Automated Vehicle Highway (CAVH). He has led the development and deployment of various traffic information systems and technologies in the US and China. He has trained younger generations of professors and experts in traffic engineering and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the US, China, Korea, and other countries.

Dr. Ran’s research has focused on five major areas: 1) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology development and system evaluation; 2) dynamic transportation network and traffic modeling; 3) development of mobile probe technologies for traffic state estimation and passenger flow estimation; 4) Connected Automated Vehicle Highway (CAVH), vehicle-highway coordination, intelligent vehicles, and Automated Highway System; and 5) big data applications for multi-modal transportation databases.