Urban & Transportation Researcher

Zhanchao Yang

Urban Planning · Transportation · Spatial Analytics

I study how transportation systems and urban policies shape travel behavior, accessibility, and urban outcomes through causal inference, spatial analysis, and computational methods.

MCP + MUSA · Weitzman School of Design · University of Pennsylvania

Scroll

Three questions I keep returning to

My research examines the interactions among transportation systems, public policy, individual behavior, and urban space.

“How do transportation policies and changing urban conditions reshape travel behavior?”

How changes such as telework and transit service affect the travel decisions people make each day.

01 · Transportation Policy & Behavior Travel Behavior · Telework · Transit · Travel Demand

“How do people perceive, navigate, and experience urban space?”

How perceptions, mental maps, and lived experience shape route choice, and why access can feel different from what a network model suggests.

02 · Perception & Accessibility Route Choice · Urban Perception · Mental Maps · Accessibility

“How do transportation systems and infrastructure investments shape broader urban and economic outcomes?”

How transit service, infrastructure, and major investments affect congestion, economic activity, land use, and development.

03 · Transportation & Urban Outcomes Infrastructure · Congestion · Economic Activity · Urban Development

How I think about transportation and cities

I think of transportation as more than a technical system. It connects policy, people, and places across the city. Those connections guide my research.

01 02 03 04 Urban Policy & Infrastructure Perception & Individual Behavior Mobility & Accessibility Urban & Economic Outcomes
  1. 01

    Urban Policy & Infrastructure

  2. 02

    Perception & Individual Behavior

  3. 03

    Mobility & Accessibility

  4. 04

    Urban & Economic Outcomes

Methods across the framework

Causal Inference Spatial Analytics Computational Methods

Four projects, one research program

View All Research

Each project examines a different link in the chain from policy and infrastructure to behavior, accessibility, and urban outcomes.

These projects are the start of a larger research program

I study transportation as both a mobility system and a link between public policy, individual behavior, and urban economic outcomes. I am especially interested in how people respond when transportation systems or urban environments change, how their perceptions shape those responses, and what those choices mean for cities.

Advance understanding of behavior and mobility

Quantifying how policies, technology, and environments influence travel decisions.

Bridge perception and objective measures

Integrating perceived and objective data to better measure accessibility and experience.

Connect transportation to urban outcomes

Linking mobility and infrastructure to economic activity, land use, and urban development.