Brief Bio
Dr. Zhuo Yao is a Transportation Engineer (Civil) at the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). He is a leading staff working in project planning at Caltrans District 3. Prior to his joining at Caltrans, Dr. Yao worked as an Air Pollution Specialist at California Air Resources Board (CARB) in the Transportation Analysis Section, Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division. He is also an adjunct professor in the Civil Engineering Department at California State University Sacramento (CSUS). Dr. Yao holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management, College of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Cincinnati, a Master of Science degree from Beijing University of Technology, and a Bachelor’s degree from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. His areas of expertise include integrated land use, transportation and emission modeling, vehicle detection and classification, and traffic activity data inputs for emission modeling. Dr. Yao spent most of his career working with Caltrans, California EPA, and other state agencies developing tools and data sets for decision support and performance measurement systems of evaluating policies, strategies, and modeling techniques for transportation and air quality. One of the key positions fighting to reduce the GHG emissions from the transportation sector by implementing multiple legislations set by the state of California. Dr. Yao serves as the treasurer of COTA and a committee member for TRB Standing Committee on Freight Transportation Data (AED13).
Transport & Infrastructure Analyst | Policy & Investment-Oriented Research
I am a transportation and infrastructure specialist with Ph.D. training and applied experience in transport planning, quantitative modeling, and policy-oriented analysis. My work focuses on supporting evidence-based decision-making for public-sector and infrastructure investment, translating complex analytical results into actionable insights for planners, policymakers, and institutional stakeholders.
My expertise spans transport demand modeling, spatial and econometric analysis, and scenario-based evaluation of infrastructure alternatives, with applications in urban mobility, network performance, and long-term planning under uncertainty. I have worked in academic and applied settings, collaborating with government agencies, practitioners, and multidisciplinary teams.
I am particularly interested in transport infrastructure investment, sustainable mobility, and development-oriented transport solutions, including the role of analytics in informing project prioritization, investment screening, and policy design in both developed and emerging economy contexts.
What I Work On
- Research-to-policy translation for public institutions
- Transport infrastructure planning and investment analysis
- Quantitative and spatial modeling for policy evaluation
- Scenario analysis and decision support under uncertainty
- Data-driven assessment of transport system performance
Philosophy
No Pay No Gain.
You may find my updated curriculum vitae (CV) here.