Tianming Liu's Homepage

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1233 G.G.Brown Laboratory

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

I am a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Yafeng Yin in the Civil and Enviornmental Enginnering Department at University of Michigan, majoring in transportation systems engineering. I am expected to obtain a Ph.D. degree in transportation engineering in Fall 2025, and have obtained my B.S. degree in control science and engineering from Tsinghua University in 2020.

My research operates at the intersection of behavioral science, artificial intelligence, and network theory to craft next-generation models and management strategies for intelligent transportation systems. Methodologically, my research integrates behavior economics, statistical learning, network modeling, queueing theory, and generative artificial intelligence. Currently, my research work features:

  • Agentic-LLM-powered models and simulations of transportation systems
  • Multimodal data fusion and high-fieldity behavior modeling
  • Behavior-informed operations management of mobility systems

I am currently on the academic job market for the 2025-2026 school year and is seeking a tenure-track assistant professor position related to transportation engineering, systems engineering and urban artificial intelligence.

news

Sep 30, 2025 Excited to share all of my 4 papers (2 first author, 2 corresponding author) have been accepted by TRB! Looking forward to presenting them at DC.
Sep 15, 2025 I give a talk at 2025 Modeling Mobility conference on integrating activity-based transportation models with Large Language Model agents.
Aug 21, 2025 I give a talk at MIT LIDs on my agentic-LLM-based travel demand modeling research.

selected publications

  1. TS Under Revision
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    Aligning LLM with human travel choices: a persona-based embedding learning approach
    Tianming Liu, Manzi Li, and Yafeng Yin
    arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.19003, Accepted by the 105th TRB Annual Meeting, 2025
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  2. AAAI workshop
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    Llm-abm for transportation: Assessing the potential of llm agents in system analysis
    Tianming Liu, Jirong Yang, and Yafeng Yin
    Accepted to AAAI workshop "AI for Urban Planning", 2025
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  3. AI4T
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    Toward llm-agent-based modeling of transportation systems: A conceptual framework
    Tianming Liu, Jirong Yang, and Yafeng Yin
    Artificial Intelligence for Transportation, 2025
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  4. TRB
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    Can large language models capture human travel behavior? evidence and insights on mode choice
    Tianming Liu, Manzi Li, and Yafeng Yin
    Available at SSRN 4937575, Accepted by the 104th TRB Annual Meeting, 2024
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  5. TRC
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    Threshold-based incentives for ride-sourcing drivers: Implications on supply management and welfare effects
    Tianming Liu, Zhengtian Xu, Daniel Vignon, and 3 more authors
    Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 2023
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  6. TRC
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    Effects of threshold-based incentives on drivers’ labor supply behavior
    Tianming Liu, Zhengtian Xu, Daniel Vignon, and 3 more authors
    Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 2023
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