Guocong Zhai

Guocong Zhai

Causal decision-making for safe systems

Research

My research enables causal decision-making for safe systems, organized around two complementary questions: which safety policies and designs actually work, and why travelers choose the mobility options they do. Across both themes, the common thread is credible inference — methods that separate real policy and design effects from confounding, and models of behavior that remain interpretable at the moment of decision-making.

Research overview: causal decision-making for safe and sustainable mobility — Theme I, causal inference for transportation safety (difference-in-differences policy evaluation, propensity score matching, Bayesian networks, generative AI for rare vehicle–pedestrian scenarios); Theme II, AI-driven behavioral analytics for shared mobility (shared e-scooters, taxi–metro competition, discrete choice models, interpretable machine learning, urban air mobility) — connected by credible inference from multimodal data to decisions

From multimodal data to decisions: causal inference × machine learning across both research themes.

Research Funding

Full project history, current and past; selected PI grants are also highlighted on the homepage.

ProjectFunderRolePeriod
Causal Decision-Making for Safe SystemsMinistry of Education, Overseas Postdoctoral Talent ProgramPI2027–2029
Causal Inference Approach to Missing-Not-at-Random Mechanism Identification and Collaborative Imputation in Crash DataNSFC Young Scientists FundPI2026–2028
Causality-Driven Active Prevention and Control of Traffic Safety on Urban Expressways via Air–Ground CollaborationFundamental Research Funds for the Central UniversitiesPI2026–2027
Multimodal AI-Driven Demand Identification and Route Planning for Urban Air MobilityFundamental Research Funds for the Central UniversitiesCo-PI2026–2027
Digital Sisters: A Causally-Grounded Framework for Urban Mobility Knowledge Transfer in Data-Scarce CitiesNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaCo-PI2026–2027
Home and Firm Location Choice Models and Platform DevelopmentUrban Redevelopment Authority, SingaporeResearch Fellow2024–2027
Factors Influencing Pedestrian Decisions to Cross Mid-Block and Potential CountermeasuresFHWA & Virginia DOTResearch Assistant2022–2024
Improving Safety Service Patrol PerformanceFHWA & Virginia DOTResearch Assistant2021–2023
Statewide Landslide Risk Assessment on Transportation Infrastructure in VirginiaOld Dominion University Internal Research GrantResearch Assistant2022–2024