Adair Garrett
Advancing Resilience, Reliability, & Safety for Transit and Urban Rail Systems.
Committed to interdisciplinary, community-engaged research focused on transforming passenger rail, transit agencies, and multimodal networks to withstand climate hazards, operational disruptions, and long-term uncertainties through adaptive capacity and proactive asset management.
About & Research Mission
Advancing Rail & Public Transit Resilience, Accessibility, and Safety
Welcome to my online CV! This page is to share my research interests, past and ongoing projects, and provide a place for folks to reach out. If you have any questions or want to chat, please feel free to email me at adairgarrett@gatech.edu.
My research focuses on enhancing systems-level objectives for rail and transit networks. Rail and transit systems are the backbone of sustainable urban mobility, yet they face increasing challenges from extreme weather events, aging infrastructure, and shifting demand patterns. My dissertation work, "Advances in Assessing and Building Resilience Capabilities for Rail Systems", characterizes multi-dimensional adaptive capacity across physical rail assets, transit operating agencies, and riders.
By combining insights from engagement with practitioners with quantitative modeling, structural equation modeling (SEM), and spatial vulnerability and resilience assessments, my work provides an actionable pathway for transit agencies and DOTs to prioritize infrastructure investments.
Transit & Urban Rail Systems
Evaluating passenger rail, light rail, and multimodal transit reliability, network robustness, and track infrastructure adaptation under acute disruptions.
Climate Hazard & Multi-Hazard Adaptation
Developing GIS tools and hazard exposure matrices for flooding, extreme heat, and severe storms across state DOTs and urban transit agencies.
Infrastructure Asset Management
Integrating lifecycle sustainability, triple-bottom-line criteria, and workforce competencies into transportation asset management plans.
Education & Academic Credentials
Degrees & Pedagogical Certifications
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering
Transportation Systems Engineering
Dissertation: "Advances in Assessing and Building Resilience
Capabilities for Rail Systems"
Advisor: Dr. Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy
Dual Master's Degrees
M.C.R.P. & M.S. in Civil Engineering
Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP): School of City & Regional
Planning (2026)
M.S. in Civil Engineering: Thesis: "Evaluating Resilience Capabilities
in Long-Range Transportation Plans: Flexibility and Agility" (2023)
B.S. in Civil Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Highest Honors. Focus on transportation.
Professional Development
Railway Engineering & Pedagogical Excellence
- Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering (AREMA, 2023)
- Tech-to-Teaching Certificate (Georgia Tech, 2024)
- CIRTL Associate Certificate (2024)
Funded Research & Grants
I have actively led and supported the conceptualization, proposal writing, and execution of competitive research grants and fellowships totaling over $555,000 in received funding ($900k+ total project value) from federal, state, and academic sponsors.
Assessing and Advancing Asset Management Capabilities for Short Line Railroads
Sponsor: Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT)
Investigating asset maintenance practices, community and economic benefits assessment, and
hazard
resilience across state-owned short-line rail lines in Georgia.
NCHRP 20-138: Defining, Assessing, and Monitoring Transportation Systems Health Guide
Sponsor: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (TRB)
Developing an overarching guide for DOT executives to evaluate, communicate, and track
system health.
Advancing Rail Infrastructure Asset Management and Hazard Mitigation
Sponsor: National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST, USDOT
UTC)
Creating practical educational resources and decision-support tools for rail asset
risk mitigation and hazard response.
Characterizing Adaptive Capacity for Rail Transportation Resilience
Sponsor: National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST Dissertation
Grant)
Conducted 40+ semi-structured expert interviews with U.S. rail and transit leaders to
synthesize adaptation strategies and implementation barriers into an open-access dashboard.
Applying Vulnerability Assessments and Triple Bottom Line Considerations to Rail Infrastructure
Sponsor: NCST Dissertation Grant
Synthesized global literature and transit agency practices to formulate a multi-capability
rail system resilience assessment framework.
Integrating Resilience and Sustainability Assessments for Rail Infrastructure Management
Sponsor: USDOT Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program
(DDETFP)
Formulating an assessment methodology uniting climate resilience metrics with life-cycle
sustainability for passenger and freight rail systems.
Interdisciplinary Program in Transportation - Transportation and Community Resilience
Sponsor: Georgia Tech Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
(BBISS)
Created an interdisciplinary teaching-and-learning module integrating transportation and
community resilience
principles for graduate courses.
Incorporating Flexibility and Agility into Long-Term Transportation Planning
Sponsor: USDOT Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program
(DDETFP)
Investigated adaptive capacity indicators in Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
Long-Range Transportation Plans.
Publications & Scholarly Works
Peer-Reviewed Papers, Proceedings & Technical Reports
Enhancing Disaster Resilience and Authentic Public Partnership in Transportation Practice: Negotiated Resilience Capability Maturity Model
Garrett, A., Orthous Inchauste, M., Yarbrough, C., Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., and B. Woodall.
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2025.
Effective Practices in Flood Adaptation by Recognizing System, Organization, and Project Interdependencies
Cuadra, M., Garrett, A., Tennakoon, M., Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Woodall, B., Ashuri, B., and P. Singh.
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2024.
Developing Transportation Resilience Adaptively to Climate Change: A Risk-Based, Adaptive and Mitigation-Based Approach
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Singh, P., Williams, E., Cuadra, M., Ashuri, B., Woodall, B., Garrett, A., Tennakoon, M., Clark, R., and A. Dheeraj.
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2023.
Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) Educational Needs and Workforce Competencies: Mapping Findings from a Survey and Expert Workshop to a Rail IAM Module
Garrett, A., and A. Amekudzi-Kennedy.
American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) 2026 Annual Conference & Exposition, Charlotte, NC.
Transportation Resilience: Trends in Education and Development of a Teaching-and-Learning Module for Graduate Courses
Garrett, A., Castañeda-Torres, V., Muruganandham, S., Peddi, I., Perez-Guzman, S., Robel, A., Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., and B. Woodall.
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Resilience Division (IRD), San Antonio, TX.
Leveraging a Digital Twin Interface for Multimodal Transportation Resilience, Connectivity, and Equity - Case Study of Toyosu, Tokyo
Garrett, A., Ginensky, K., Wang, X., Ahmed, H., Shen, J., Yoshida, T., Murayama, M., and P. Yang.
International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE 2024), Niigata City, Japan. Energy Proceedings.
Characterizing Adaptive Capacity for Rail Transportation Resilience: Options, Strategies, and Influential Factors
Garrett, A., and A. Amekudzi-Kennedy.
National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST).
Incorporating Resilience Considerations in Transportation Planning, TSMO and Asset Management
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Ashuri, B., Clark, R., Woodall, B., Singh, P., Morano, K., Cuadra, M., Garrett, A., Tennakoon, M., and Z. Yang.
Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Office of Performance-Based Management & Research.
Honors & Awards
National Scholarships & Academic Recognitions
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor
Georgia Institute of Technology
APTF Scholarship Award
American Public Transportation Foundation (APTF)
Outstanding Student of the Year
National Center for Sustainable Transportation (USDOT UTC)
Georgia Section Scholarship Award
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
Mundy Global Learning Endowment Award
Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Helene M. Overly Memorial Scholarship
Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS)
HDR Transportation Scholarship
HDR Engineering
GEF Scholarships
Georgia Engineering Foundation (4-time Recipient)
McMahon Transportation Engineering Scholarship
Transportation Engineering Academic Scholarship
Presentations & Workshops
Invited Talks, Conference Lecterns, Posters & Workshops
Oral & Lectern Talks
- ASCE IRD 2026 · San Antonio, TX Transportation Resilience: Trends in Education and Development of a Teaching-and-Learning Module for Graduate Courses
- ASEE 2026 · Charlotte, NC Infrastructure Asset Management: Educational Needs and Workforce Competencies
- VISIM 2025 · Online Approaches to Assess Rail System Resilience: A Multi-Capability Perspective
- TRB Annual Meeting 2025 · Washington, DC Multi-Capability Resilience Assessment Approach for Improved Rail Network Performance Monitoring
- Climate Challenges 2023 · Washington, DC Resilience-Building Resources for State DOTs
Select Poster Sessions
- TRB Annual Meeting 2026 · Washington, DC Evaluating Flexibility and Agility in Transportation Systems and Organizations Using Long-Range Transportation Plans: Results from Hybrid LLM-Human Scoring
- TRB Annual Meeting 2025 · Washington, DC Integrated Rail System Sustainability and Resilience: Risks, Challenges, Opportunities, and Solution Pathways
- TRB Annual Meeting 2024 · Washington, DC Building Rail System Resilience: Framework for Incorporating Vulnerability Assessments and Hazard-Specific Adaptation into Planning
- TRB Annual Meeting 2024 · Washington, DC Vulnerability Assessments Incorporating Accessibility Considerations to Enhance Transportation System Resilience and Equity
- TRB Annual Meeting 2023 · Washington, DC A Performance-Based Approach to Developing Capabilities for Building Resilience to Climate Hazards
Workshops
- Transportation Coordinating Committee · Workshop on Performance Management and Measurement · Atlanta, GA (August 2026) How to Leverage AI in Transportation Practice
- Defining, Assessing, and Monitoring Transportation System Health (TSH) · Virtual (May 2026) Developing Strategy and Policy for Transportation System Health
- Georgia Tech 2025 · Virtual (July 2025) Infrastructure Asset Management Education and Workforce Development Needs Workshop
- TRB Annual Meeting 2025 · Workshop on Asset Risk & Resilience · Washington, DC (Jan 2025) Deep Uncertainty and the Development of the Multi-Hazards Exposure, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Tool
Teaching & Mentorship
Instruction, Teaching Assistantships & Research Mentorship
CEE 6651: Infrastructure Systems
Instructor of Record · Fall 2025 and Fall 2026
Graduate level core course. Designed curriculum, lectures, and semester projects covering multi-hazard resilience planning, grant writing and evaluation, and rail and transit asset management.
CEE 2090: Civil & Environmental Engineering Systems
Instructor of Record · Spring 2025
Undergraduate foundational systems course (29 students). Taught linear programming, decision trees, engineering economics, and optimization.
CEE 6651: Infrastructure Systems
Co-Instructor of Record · Fall 2024
CEE 8097: Introduction to Transportation Research
Teaching Assistant · Fall 2024
CEE 6651: Infrastructure Systems
Teaching Assistant · Fall 2023
CEE 2090: Civil & Environmental Engineering Systems
Teaching Assistant · Spring 2022 & Spring 2024
Student Research Mentorship
I have mentored 16+ graduate, undergraduate, and high school researchers on grant-funded projects, resulting in multiple co-authored peer-reviewed journal papers and conference presentations.
Leadership & Service
Committee Appointments & Professional Community
TRB & Professional Service
- NASEM TRB Standing Committee on Regional Intercity Passenger Rail: Invited Member (2025 - 2028)
- TRB Extreme Weather & Climate Change Committee: Volunteer (2024 - 2025)
- Peer Reviewer: Transportation Research Record (TRR), ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Community Service
- City of Atlanta Climate Resilience Advisory Board: Transportation Working Group (2022 - Present)
- Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART): Resilience Committee Volunteer (2026 - Present)
- Georgia Planning Association (GPA): Climate Action Committee (2026 - Present)
Affiliations & Leadership
- Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS): President, Georgia Tech Chapter (2023 - 2025)
- AREMA: American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association
- ASCE: American Society of Civil Engineers
- APA: American Planning Association
- ASEE: American Society of Engineering Education
Let's Connect
I am always excited to connect with students, researchers, transit practitioners, and community partners interested in rail resilience, public transit equity, and infrastructure systems. Whether you have questions about my research, are exploring graduate studies, or want to discuss potential collaborations, please feel free to reach out!