Mayor Soglin Announces Appointment of City Traffic Engineer

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin today announced the appointment of Yang Tao, P.E. Ph.D, as the City of Madison’s City Traffic Engineer and manager of the Traffic Engineering Division within the City’s Department of Transportation.

Since May of this year, Mr. Tao has served as the City’s Interim City Traffic Engineer and Parking Utility Manager. He has been the City’s Assistant City Traffic Engineer since March 2016 and he has worked within the Traffic Engineering Division since 2006.

Mr. Tao has experience managing all aspects of the City’s traffic operations, including safety for all modes, traffic engineering projects and designs, intelligent transportation systems, and pedestrian and bicycle mobility.

Since 2016, Mr. Tao has been leading the City’s Smart City initiative coordinating with UW-Madison, other City agencies, and other public and private partners to plan for an innovative next-generation data and people-oriented transportation system.

Mr. Tao has a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a minor in Business Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing China.

Mr. Tao currently serves as President of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Wisconsin Section and Chair of the ITE Smart Communities Task Force.

Mayor Soglin said, “Madison will be well served by Yang Tao’s knowledge and experience. He has proven his ability to work with fellow managers, and be responsive to policy makers and residents. He is prepared to lead Madison’s continuing transition into 21st century technology in ways that will serve the needs of people.”

Mayor Soglin will be submitting Mr. Tao’s appointment to the Common Council for approval at a future meeting.