Biography

Dr. Sayed is currently a Professor at the University of British Columbia. He has a number of prestigious awards including the appointment as a UBC Distinguished University Scholar, the ITE Wilbur Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award, the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Sandford Fleming Award, the Transportation Association of Canada Academic Merit Award, the Transportation Association of Canada Gilchrist Medal and several best paper and teaching awards. Dr. Sayed is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. Dr. Sayed is the Editor of the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering and the Director of the Bureau of Intelligent Transportation Systems and Freight Security (BITSAFS-Engineering) at UBC. Dr. Sayed received two early promotions to the Associate and Full Professor levels. He served as a chair of both the Transportation and the computer application divisions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering. He has authored or coauthored about 250 journal/conference papers and has instructed and organized many short courses and seminars in traffic safety, operations and ITS for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), the BC Ministry of Transportation (BCMOT), Ashghal (Qatar), Ministry of Public Works (Kuwait), State Farm Insurance (US), and the US Federal Highway Administration, among others. He also serves on several national and international committees including the US Transportation Research Board safety data and analysis Committee, the US Transportation Research Board future directions for road safety subcommittee, the US Transportation Research Board Pedestrian Committee and the Canadian National Road Safety Committee. He has completed numerous consulting projects in traffic safety and ITS in North America and internationally and has supervised 60 Master and Ph.D. students. Dr. Sayed’s transportation engineering research has been focused within three main areas: 1) to improve road safety analysis and evaluation techniques, 2) to improve the level of knowledge associated with the safety implications of traffic operations and highway design, and 3) developing and evaluating Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to increase the efficiency of traffic.

Dr. Sayed’s research to improve the methods of traffic safety analysis and evaluation is helping to reshape how road safety problems are identified and evaluated. The methods and techniques developed have received wide recognition and are being used by several agencies such as the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), US State Farm Insurance, US AAA Michigan, and the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Dr. Sayed has completed numerous safety audits in Canada, the US and the Middle East. Improving the understanding and relationship between safety performance and traffic operations/road design is another research interest of Dr. Sayed and responds to the demand for this knowledge among transportation professionals. A good example of the applicability of his research within this area, are the methods that developed to explicitly evaluate safety and design consistency. His research work led to an evaluation framework that was adopted by BCMOT to evaluate the new design of the Sea to Sky Highway, located between Vancouver and Whistler, in southern British Columbia. The highway is being rebuilt to meet the demand for the 2010 Winter Olympics with a budget exceeding 1.00 billion dollars. This framework allowed decision makers the opportunity to analyze the safety benefits in relation to the cost of new highway design improvements. This facilitated a “trade-off” analysis that allowed for the justification and rationalization of highway infrastructure investment levels.

Within the area of ITS and traffic operations, Dr. Sayed’s research to develop a comprehensive strategy for Transit Signal Priority has been successfully applied on two corridors in Vancouver. Also, on a strategic level, he helped establish a provincial ITS vision and strategic plan for using advanced technologies to help solve provincial, regional and local transportation issues. He has supervised the completion of many ITS projects as the Director of the Bureau of Intelligent Transportation Systems and Freight Security (BITSAFS-Engineering) at UBC.

Research Interests

Full Bayes safety models, Automated safety analysis using computer vision techniques, Safety evaluations, Traffic conflicts techniques, Pedestrian modeling, and ITS.

Courses

CIVL 340 Transportation Engineering I

CIVL 440 Transportation Engineering II

CIVL 582 Transportation Engineering Impacts

Awards & Recognitions

• 2018, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Transportation Safety and Advanced Mobility
• 2017, Best Paper Award, Transportation Research Board Committee on Safety,
• 2016, Best Paper Award, Transportation Research Board Statistical Methodology Committee
• 2015, Prince Michael International Road Safety Award
• 2014, Centennial Road Safety Award, Transportation Association of Canada
• 2014, Elected Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada
• 2013, Elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering
• 2013, Elected Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering
• 2011, Wilbur Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award, Institute of Transportation Engineers
• 2011, Professor’s Appreciation Award, UBC Civil Engineering Undergraduates
• 2011, Best paper award, Transportation Research Board Committee on Safety
• 2010, Award of Academic Merit, Transportation Association of Canada
• 2010, Best paper award, Transportation Research Board Committee on Pedestrians
• 2010, Sandford Fleming Award, Canadian Society of Civil Engineering
• 2009, Best Paper Award, Transportation Association of Canada.
• 2009, Best Paper Award, Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference XIX, Saskatchewan
• 2008, Best Paper Award, Transportation Research Board Committee on Safety
• 2005, Best Paper Award, Transportation Association of Canada, Alberta.
• 2004, Distinguished University Scholar, University of British Columbia
• 2004, 2nd rank Professor Appreciation Teaching Award, UBC Civil Engineering Undergraduate Club
• 2003, Daniel B. Fambro Best Paper Award, Institute of Transportation Engineers
• 1996, Best Article Award, Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers
• 1996, Honorable Mention – The Gilchrist Medal, Transportation Association of Canada
• 1995, The Gilchrist Medal, Transportation Association of Canada

Publications

• M. H. Hussein, Sayed, T., Ismail, K., and Espen, V., “Calibrating Road Design Guides Using Risk-Based Reliability Analysis: A Case Study”, Journal of Transportation Engineering, ASCE, In Press.
• Y. Guo, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M., “Examining Two-wheelers’ Overtaking Behavior and Lateral Distance Choices at a Shared Roadway Facility in China”, Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, In Press.
• C. Llorca, Moreno, A., Sayed, T., and Garcia, A., “Risk Evaluation Of Passing Sight Distance Standards Based On Observational Data”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, In Press.
• A. Tageldin, Sayed, T., Zaki, M., and Azab, M., “A Safety Evaluation of an Adaptive Traffic Signal Control System using Computer Vision”, Advances in Transportation Studies, In Press.
• Y. Guo and Sayed, T., “Before–After Evaluation of Left-Turn Lane Extension Considering Injury Severity and Collision Type”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 26741239, no. 8, pp. 67 – 77, 2020.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “A bivariate Bayesian hierarchical extreme value model for traffic conflict-based crash estimation”, Analytic Methods in Accident Research, vol. 25, p. 100111, 2020.
• M. Essa and Sayed, T., “Comparison between Surrogate Safety Assessment Model and Real-Time Safety Models in Predicting Field-Measured Conflicts at Signalized Intersections”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 26742384, no. 3, pp. 100 – 112, 2020.
• Y. Guo, Zheng, L., and Sayed, T., “A comparison of collision-based and conflict-based safety evaluation of left-turn bay extension”, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, vol. 161239, no. 3224, pp. 676 – 694, 2020.
• M. Bayoumi Kamel, Sayed, T., and Bigazzi, A. Y., “A composite zonal index for biking attractiveness and safety”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 137, p. 105439, 2020.
• A. Osama, Albitar, M., Sayed, T., and Bigazzi, A. Y., “Determining If Walkability and Bikeability Indices Reflect Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2674, no. 9, pp. 767 – 775, 2020.
• M. H. Zaki, Sayed, T., and Billeh, M., “Enhancing unsupervised video-based vehicle tracking and modeling for traffic data collection”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 4781, no. 8, pp. 982 – 997, 2020.
• Y. Guo, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M. H., “Examining two-wheelers’ overtaking behavior and lateral distance choices at a shared roadway facility”, Journal of Transportation Safety & Security, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 1046 – 1066, 2020.
• L. Zheng, Sayed, T., and Guo, Y., “Investigating factors that influence pedestrian and cyclist violations on shared use path: An observational study on the Brooklyn bridge promenade”, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, vol. 1425, no. 74, pp. 503 – 512, 2020.
• M. Hussein, Sayed, T., El-Basyouny, K., and de Leur, P., “Investigating safety effects of wider longitudinal pavement markings”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 142, p. 105527, 2020.
• R. Alsaleh, Hussein, M., and Sayed, T., “Microscopic behavioural analysis of cyclist and pedestrian interactions in shared spaces”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 50 – 62, 2020.
• R. Alsaleh and Sayed, T., “Modeling pedestrian-cyclist interactions in shared space using inverse reinforcement learning”, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, vol. 70, pp. 37 – 57, 2020.
• R. Alsaleh, Sayed, T., Ismail, K., and AlRukaibi, F., “System reliability as a surrogate measure of safety for horizontal curves: methodology and case studies”, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, vol. 165111606311280, no. 36, pp. 957 – 986, 2020.
• M. Bayoumi Kamel, Sayed, T., and Osama, A., “Accounting for mediation in cyclist-vehicle crash models: A Bayesian mediation analysis approach”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 131, pp. 122 – 130, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Zhibin, L., and Sayed, T., “Analysis of Crash Rates at Freeway Diverge Areas Using A Bayesian Tobit Modeling Technique”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Zhibin, L., and Sayed, T., “Analysis of Crash Rates at Freeway Diverge Areas Using A Bayesian Tobit Modeling Technique”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Li, Z., and Sayed, T., “Analysis of Crash Rates at Freeway Diverge Areas using Bayesian Tobit Modeling Framework”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 26732269, no. 45, pp. 652 – 662, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “Application of Extreme Value Theory for Before-After Road Safety Analysis”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2673384, no. 4, pp. 1001 – 1010, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “Application of extreme value theory for before-after road safety analysis”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• F. AlRukaibi, Alsaleh, R., and Sayed, T., “Applying Machine Learning and Statistical Approaches for Travel Time Estimation in Partial Network Coverage”, Sustainability, vol. 1144713, no. 14, p. 3822, 2019.
• L. Zheng, Sayed, T., and Essa, M., “Bayesian hierarchical modeling of the non-stationary traffic conflict extremes for crash estimation”, Analytic Methods in Accident Research, vol. 23, p. 100100, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “Bayesian hierarchical modeling of traffic conflict extremes for crash estimation: A non-stationary peak over threshold approach”, Analytic Methods in Accident Research, vol. 24, p. 100106, 2019.
• H. Mohammed, Bigazzi, A., and Sayed, T., “Characterization of Bicycle Following and Overtaking Maneuvers on Cycling Paths”, Transportation Research Part C, vol. 98, pp. 139-151, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Essa, M., Sayed, T., Haque, M., and Washington, S., “A comparison between Simulated and Field-measured Conflicts for Safety Assessment of Signalized Intersections in Australia”, Transportation Research Part C, vol. 101, pp. 96-110, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Essa, M., Sayed, T., Haque, M. Mazharul, and Washington, S., “A comparison between simulated and field-measured conflicts for safety assessment of signalized intersections in Australia”, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, vol. 101, pp. 96 – 110, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “Comparison of Traffic Conflict Indicators for Crash Estimation using Peak Over Threshold Approach”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 267338417, no. 5, pp. 493 – 502, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “A Comparison of Traffic Conflict Indicators for Crash Estimation Using Peak over Threshold Approach”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• S. Ibrahim and Sayed, T., “Does Automated Enforcement Presence Impact Collisions and Crime?”, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• S. Ibrahim and Sayed, T., “Does Automated Enforcement Presence Impact Collisions and Crime?”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2673253176, no. 10334, pp. 522 – 531, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M., “Evaluating the Safety Impacts of Powered Two Wheelers on a Shared Roadway in China using Automated Video Analysis”, Journal of Transportation Safety and Security, 2019.
• Y. Guo, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M. H., “Evaluating the safety impacts of powered two wheelers on a shared roadway in China using automated video analysis”, Journal of Transportation Safety & Security, vol. 11384, no. 4, pp. 414 – 429, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “From univariate to bivariate extreme value models: Approaches to integrate traffic conflict indicators for crash estimation”, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, vol. 103, pp. 211 – 225, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “From univariate to bivariate extreme value models: approaches to integrate traffic conflict indicators for crash estimation”, Transportation Research Part C, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “From univariate to bivariate extreme value models: approaches to integrate traffic conflict indicators for crash estimation”, Transportation Research Part C, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “A full Bayes approach for traffic conflict-based before–after safety evaluation using extreme value theory”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 131, pp. 308 – 315, 2019.
• M. Essa and Sayed, T., “Full Bayesian Conflict-based Models for Real Time Safety Evaluation of Signalized Intersections”, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2019.
• M. Essa and Sayed, T., “Full Bayesian conflict-based models for real time safety evaluation of signalized intersections”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 129, pp. 367 – 381, 2019.
• L. Zheng and Sayed, T., “Investigating factors that influence pedestrian and cyclist violations on shared use path: an observational study on the Brooklyn Bridge promenade”, International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 2019.
• A. Tageldin and Sayed, T., “Models to evaluate the severity of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts in five cities”, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, vol. 15384, no. 2, pp. 354 – 375, 2019.
• A. Tageldin and Sayed, T., ““Models to Evaluate the Severity of Pedestrian-Vehicle Conflicts in Five Cities”, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, 2019.
• A. Osama and Sayed, T., “A Novel Approach for Identifying, Diagnosing, and Treating Active Transportation Safety Issues”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2673, no. 11, pp. 813 – 823, 2019.
• A. Osama and Sayed, T., “A Novel Approach for Identifying, Diagnosing and Treating Active Transportation Safety Issues”, Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• A. Musunuru, Porter, R., Sayed, T., and Fyfe, M., “Risk and Reliability Analysis of Geometric Design Criteria: A Critical Synthesis”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• M. Essa, Sayed, T., and Reyad, P., “Transferability of real-time safety performance functions for signalized intersections”, Accident Analysis & Prevention, vol. 129, pp. 263 – 276, 2019.
• S. Ibrahim and Sayed, T., “Use of Objective Safety Evidence to Deploy Automated Enforcement Resources”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2673, no. 10, pp. 726 – 735, 2019.
• S. Ibrahim and Sayed, T., “Using Objective Safety Evidence to Deploy Automated Enforcement Resources”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2019.
• L. Zheng, Sayed, T., and Essa, M., “Validating the bivariate extreme value modeling approach for road safety estimation with different traffic conflict indicators”, 2019, vol. 123, pp. 314-323, 2019.
• M. Hussein and Sayed, T., “Validation of an agent-based microscopic pedestrian simulation model in a crowded pedestrian walking environment”, Transportation Planning and Technology, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 1-22, 2019.
• R. Alsaleh, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M., “Assessing the Effect of Pedestrians’ Use of Cell Phones on their Walking Behavior: A Study Based on Automated Video Analysis”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2672, no. 35, pp. 46-57, 2018.
• M. Zaki and Sayed, T., “Automated Analysis of Pedestrian Group Behavior in Urban Settings ”, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 1880-1889, 2018.
• M. Zaki and Sayed, T., “Automated Class Identification of Modes of Travel in Shared Spaces: A Case Study from India”, IET Intelligent Transport Systems, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 765-773, 2018.
• L. Zheng, Sayed, T., and Tageldin, A., “Before-After Safety Analysis Using Extreme Value Theory: A Case of Left-Turn Bay Extension”, Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 121, pp. 258-267, 2018.
• L. Zheng, Ismail, K., Sayed, T., and Fatema, T., “Bivariate extreme value modeling for road safety estimation”, Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 120, pp. 83-91, 2018.
• Y. Guo, Osama, A., and Sayed, T., “A Cross-Comparison of Different Techniques for Modeling Macro-Level Cyclist Crashes”, Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 113, pp. 38-46, 2018.
• A. Tageldin, Sayed, T., and Ismail, K., “Evaluating the Safety and Operational Impacts of Left-Turn Bay Extension at Signalized Intersections Using Automated Video Analysis”, Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 120, pp. 13-27, 2018.
• Y. Guo, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M., “Exploring Evasive Action Based Indicators for Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) Conflicts at Shared Traffic Facility Environments”, Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, vol. 144, no. 11, 2018.
• A. Osama and Sayed, T., “A Novel Technique to Identify Hot Zones for Active Commuters Crashes”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2672, no. 38, pp. 266-276, 2018.
• F. Alrukaibi, Alrukaibi, D., Alkhedera, S., Alojaiman, S., and Sayed, T., “Optimal route risk-based algorithm for hazardous material transport in Kuwait”, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, vol. 52, pp. 40-53, 2018.
• F. Alrukaibi, Alsaleh, R., and Sayed, T., “Real-Time Travel Time Estimation in Partial Network Coverage: Case Study from Kuwait City”, Advances in Transportation Studies, vol. 44, pp. 79-94, 2018.
• M. Essa, Hussein, M., and Sayed, T., “Road Users’ Behavior and Safety Analysis of Pedestrian-Bike Shared Space: Case Study of Robson Street in Vancouver”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 45, pp. 1053-1064, 2018.
• M. Essa and Sayed, T., “Traffic Conflict Models to Evaluate the Safety of Signalized Intersections at the Cycle Level”, Transportation Research Part C, vol. 89, pp. 289-302, 2018.
• M. Hussein and Sayed, T., “Validation of an Agent-Based Microscopic Pedestrian Simulation Model at the Pedestrian Walkway of Brooklyn Bridge”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2672, no. 35, pp. 33-45, 2018.
• Y. Guo, Sayed, T., and Zaki, M., “Automated Analysis of Pedestrian Walking Behavior at a Signalized Intersection in China”, IET Intelligent Transport Systems, vol. 115, no. 1, pp. 28-36, 2017.
• M. Hussein and Sayed, T., “A Bi-Directional Agent Based Pedestrian Microscopic Model”, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 326-355, 2017.
• A. Tageldin and Sayed, T., “Comparison of Time Proximity and Evasive Action Pedestrian Conflict Measures: Case Studies from Five Cities”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2661, pp. 19-29, 2017.
• B. Popescue and Sayed, T., “Developing Macro-Level Collision Prediction Models to Evaluate Bicycle Safety in the City of Vancouver”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2659, pp. 25-32, 2017.
• A. Osama and Sayed, T., “Evaluating the Impact of Connectivity, Continuity, and Topography of Sidewalk Network on Pedestrian Safety”, Accident Analysis and Prevention, vol. 107, pp. 117-125, 2017.
• A. Osama and Sayed, T., “Evaluating the Impact of Socio-Economics, Land Use, Built Environment and Road Facility on Cyclist Safety”, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2659, pp. 33-42, 2017.
• A. Tageldin, Zaki, M., and Sayed, T., “Examining Pedestrian Evasive Actions as a Potential Indicator for Traffic Conflicts”, IET Intelligent Transport Systems, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 282-289, 2017.
• A. Osama and Sayed, T., “Investigating the Effect of Spatial and Mode Correlations on Active Transportation Safety Modeling”, Analytic Methods in Accident Research, vol. 16, pp. 60-74, 2017.
• A. Osama, Sayed, T., and Bigazzi, A., “Models for estimating zone-level bike kilometers traveled using bike network, land use, and road facility variables”, Transportation Research Part A, vol. 96, pp. 14-28, 2017.

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