Spring 2025 Kent Seminar Series: Alireza Talebpour

Welcome to the Spring 2025 Kent Seminar Series. This week's speaker, Alireza Talebpour, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, discusses the changing landscape of driving and the impact of automated vehicles.
The Spring 2025 semester is set to feature 14 presentations, each addressing a topic related to autonomy in transportation.
Presentation Title: The changing landscape of driving: A deep dive into the impact of automated vehicles
Abstract: While automated vehicles are expected to transform the transportation system, their impact on roadway users’ behavior remains poorly understood, posing challenges for city planning. Using real-world data from commercial AV operations in Phoenix, Arizona, this presentation analyzes how AVs influence human behavior and evaluates whether driver behavior changes in response to AVs. Findings show that while there are differences between human-driver and AV behavior, human drivers often treat AVs similarly to other vehicles. In some cases, AVs contribute to smoother traffic flow by altering human behavior.
Bio: Talebpour is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He earned his doctorate from Northwestern University and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Sharif University of Technology. His research focuses on vehicle automation, connected transportation systems, traffic analysis and traffic flow theory. His work includes developing algorithms to enhance safety and efficiency in automated driving and creating simulation tools for vehicle and communication systems.