Resume JeffTsai - Institute for Transportation Research and Education

Jeffrey C. Tsai
Director, School Transportation Group
Program Director, Operations Research / Education Laboratory
The Institute for Transportation Research and Education
North Carolina State University
Centennial Campus, Box 8601
Raleigh, NC 27695-8601
27695-8601
919/515-7931 FAX: 919/515-7924
tsai@unity.ncsu.edu
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Director,
Operations Research / Education Laboratory (OR/Ed. Lab)
Responsible for the management of the OR/Ed Laboratory, the lab specializes in the use of
mathematical models (operations research) for improving decision-making in educational
institutions and in state and local governmental agencies.
The Integrated Planning for School and Community (IPSAC) offered by the Lab is being used
by numerous school systems. IPSAC fully integrates community and regional data, ten-year
economic and demographic forecasts, demographics and land use studies, digitized pupil
and school location files, and mathematical optimization algorithms. The IPSAC planning
system is comprised of multiple data-driven processes including: Enrollment Forecasting,
Land Use Studies, Out-Of-Capacity Analysis, School Location Optimization, and Attendance
Boundary Optimization and Redirecting. The school planning solutions are driven by policy
and supported by data have great success rate wining community support.
The Integrated Planning for School and Community was a 1998 Edelman Prize Winner, awarded
by the International Forum of Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), the
world’s leading professional association of operation researchers and management scientists.
Director, School Transportation Group
Coordinating project activities with school systems and other pupil transportation related projects.
Develop concept statement and seek funding opportunities for the application of scientific
principles and technology to pupil transportation industry.
2007 Principal Investigator, “Three-Point Lap/Should Belts in School Buses”. A study
evaluates the utilization of lap/should belts in school buses among elementary, middle and
high school-age students and operation impact to school districts’
2004 Principal Investigator, “Identification of North Carolina School Travel Related
Motor Vehicle Crashes”. A study identifies crashes involving children and youth ages 0-18
occurring on weekdays during morning and afternoon school commuting times.
2003 Principal Investigator, “Best Practices Managing School Campus Carpool Traffic”.
The project developed a synthesis of best practices for effective management of carpool
lanes at the public elementary school campuses through school modal use analysis, traffic
queue analysis, loading area procedural observations, and queue modeling. The study was
packaged in a simple to use web-based “decision tree” for school administrators that is rich
in illustrations, pictures and video clips.

Jeffrey C. Tsai 2
2002 Principal Investigator, “A Study of Guidelines and Criteria for Establishing School
Walk Zones”. A project studies North Carolina school districts’ practices in determining
area where students walked to school. This project includes the following activities: (1)
problem identification of North Carolina public schools’ policies for establishing walk zones
through survey, pedestrian crash data analysis and focus group meetings, (2) define areas
of focus and develop a list of specific recommendations, and (3) review guidelines and
practice developed by other states and municipalities for future inclusion of possible North
Carolina guidelines.
2001 Principal Investigator, “Special Needs Require Special Care”. A transportation
policies, guidelines, and best practices for the transportation of preschoolers and children
with disabilities for public schools developed by a committee of school level professionals
who work with school children require special transportation needs.
1999-2000 Principal Investigator, “A Cooperative Program to Reduce Incidents of
Vehicles Passing Stopped School Buses in a Coastal Region of North Carolina”. A project
funded by National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) through North
Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The project demonstrates the value of a
cooperative program of reducing stop arm violations through onboard video surveillances,
GIS mapping and subsequent enforcement activities by law enforcement. It is supported
through an intensive public awareness program based on the Public Service Announcement
and education materials on hand. The project team demonstrates the applicability of video
cameras recording actual illegal passing as an enforcement tool and also to study driver’s
operating habits to identify training needs.
1999-2000 Principal Investigator, “Data Collection Support for the North Carolina
Exceptional Children Transportation Study”. A study requested by North Carolina General
Assembly to study the excessive school bus riding time of exceptional children students.
1999-2000 Principal Investigator, “Information and Technology Enhancements for
Wake County Public School System’s Transportation Department”. A project to study and
recommend currently technologies in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems,
computer networking, and communication to enhancement the efficiency and safety of a
large and rapidly growing public school system.
1998 Principal Investigator, “Interactive School Bus Safety Web Site for Elementary
Schools”. A project funded by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program to crate a first in
the nation, an interactive school bus safety web page for elementary school students
(www.ncbussafety.org).
1994 – Present Principal Investigator, Responsible for the day-to-day operation of the
Transportation Information Management System (TIMS) project office at ITRE (TIMS is a
GIS-based computer assisted school bus routing and scheduling system). Manage TIMS
support staff and provide assistance in high-level software problem solving. Take lead in
investigating reported software problems, testing new products, developing application
software, interpreting documentation and work with software vendor and staff evaluating
software issues. Negotiate contract issues with North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction and manage project budgets.

Jeffrey C. Tsai 3
1993 Principal Investigator, “Alternative Fuels Study”, the study of the potential uses of
alternative fueled vehicles as relates to North Carolina’s state-owned vehicles.
1993 Principal Investigator, Technical Assistance in Paratransit Routing. Technical
assistance, facilitation, and evaluation services in the installation of a computerized routing
scheduling software for four Paratransit services in North Carolina.
1993 Technical assistance, the Paratransit Scheduling and Dispatching System Options
for Capital Metro Special Transit Services at Austin, Texas. Assist in identifying operational,
software, hardware alternatives for a Paratransit scheduling and dispatching software
system for the Special Transit Services in Austin, Texas.
1992-1993 Technical assistance, the Assessment of Computer Equipment and Training
Needs for NCDOT Public Transit and Rail Division (PT&RD). Assist in the study of computer
capabilities of the North Carolina transit systems to clarify PT&RD’s future role in meeting
the computer technical assistance needs.
1991 System Designer, “North Carolina Pupil Transportation Budget Rating Simulator”. A
simulation software package used statewide for pupil transportation budget allocation and
allows school systems to simulate impacts to the state transportation funding due to
operation changes in the school system.

Jeffrey C. Tsai 4
Professional Affiliations
Chair, Transportation Research Board, School Transportation Joint Subcommittee
Member, Transportation Research Board, Transportation Safety Management
Committee
Member, National Walk to School Evaluation Advisory Board
Member, Hybrid Electric School Bus Advisory Board
Committee member, North Carolina School Safety Conference
Member of North Carolina Pupil Transportation Association
Reports, papers, Website, publications, and presentations
“North Carolina Experiences with Three-Point Restraint Seats in Large School Buses”,
project report to NC Department of Public Instruction, 2007
“Safe and Health School Environments”, contributing author, Oxford University Press,
2006
“Creating and Operating a Walking School Bus”, presenting during the
85 th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2006
“School Bus Occupant Protection, a Review of the Implementation of Lap/Shoulder Seat
Belts in Large School Buses in North Carolina”, presenting during the 85 th
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2006
“Integrated Planning for School and Community”, Journal of the Transportation
Research Board, No. 1922, November 2005
“School Transportation News: Improving the Safety, Security, and Quality of Student Travel”,
TR News, Number 237, 2005
“Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses”, TR News, Number 237, 2005
“Best Practices Managing School Campus Carpool Traffic”, presenting during the
Transportation Research Board, 83 rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2004
“Integrated Planning for School and Community”, presenting during the Council of
Educational Facility Planners International, Charlotte, NC, 2003
“True Costs and Risks of School Transportation”, presenting during the International
Association of School Business Officers Annual Conference, Charlotte, NC, 2003
“GIS, GPS, and AVL” for School Transportation”, presenting during the 2003 School
Transportation News Annual Conference, Reno, NV, 2003
“New Paradigm of School Transportation, Lesson Learned from the Public Transportation
Experiences”, presenting during the 2003 School Transportation News Annual
Conference, Reno, NV, 2003
“Analysis of North Carolina Guidelines and Criteria for Establishing School Walk Zones”,
Transportation Research Record 1828, TRB, National Research Council, Washington,
DC, 2003, pp. 47-55.
“The Relative Risks of School Travel”. Committee Member of School Transportation
Safety, Transportation Research Board, Special Repot 269, National Research
Council, Washington, DC 2002.

Jeffrey C. Tsai 5
“Automated Vehicle Location(AVL) for School Transportation”, ITRE, 2001
“Use Global Positioning System (GPS) to Improve School Bus Routing and Scheduling”,
ITRE, 2000
Interactive School Bus Safety Training Web Page (www.ncbussafety.org). Lead the
project team at ITRE developed state of the art educational web page designed for
elementary school children addressing school bus related safety training, 1998.
Paratransit Scheduling and Dispatching System Options for Capital Metro Special Transit
Services, Austin, Texas,” co-author, ITRE, January, 1993.
“Alternative Fuels Study for the State Owned Light-Duty Vehicles” prepared for the Energy
Division, North Carolina Department of Commerce, ITRE, March, 1993.
“Technical Assistance in Paratransit Routing,” ITRE, March 31 1993.
“Assessment of Computer Equipment and Training Needs for North Carolina
Department of Transportation, Public Transit Division,” ITRE, April, 1993
“Assessment of Software for Computerized Paratransit Operations,” co-author,
Transportation Research Board 1378, 1993.
User Manual for the “North Carolina Pupil Transportation Efficiency Rating Simulator,”
ITRE, September, 1991.
“Application of the Intelligent Transportation Systems for pupil transportation
industry”, presentation, National Association for Pupil Transportation Conference,
1998
Awards and Recognitions
North Carolina State University Excellence Award, 2006
Director’s Award of the Institute for Transportation Research and Education, 2003
“Special Needs Require Special Care”, Best State Manual Award in the National
Transportation Conference of Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers,
Atlanta, GA, 2002
Education
Fundamentals of Transportation Safety, June, 1999
Intelligent Transportation Systems, Fall Semester, 1998
Master of Science, Geophysics, North Carolina State University, 1987
Bachelor of Science, Geophysics, North Carolina State University, 1984