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Dr. Kailai Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Houston, is leading a transformative project to enhance cybersecurity in public transportation. His team has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) for the project, “An Assessment of Cybersecurity at Public Transportation Agencies”. Spanning 27 months through 2027, this initiative will develop a comprehensive cybersecurity toolkit designed to help transit agencies prevent cyberattacks, respond to incidents, and strengthen overall system resilience. The research will focus on the vulnerabilities of connected vehicles and the categorization of cybersecurity incidents affecting these advanced systems.

This new award builds on Dr. Wang's broader research agenda, which includes leading a national study on cybersecurity risk responses funded by the CYBER-CARE center. In parallel, Dr. Wang is collaborating with Dr. Xiaodong Qian from Wayne State University on a complementary TCRP-funded Transit IDEA project which received a around $100,000 grant. This initiative, titled “Boosting Transit Service Customer Satisfaction with an AI-Enhanced Crowdsourcing Platform”, investigates how AI can improve public feedback mechanisms while also addressing cybersecurity challenges. Together, these projects position Dr. Wang and his colleagues at the forefront of securing the future of public transportation amid rapid digital innovation.