diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e2f4c61680..50c59f2d60 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Copy and pasting the git commit messages is __NOT__ enough.
 ### Changed
 ### Deprecated
 ### Fixed
+- `Trip.actor` field is now effective. Previously `actor` had no effect.
 ### Removed
 ### Security
 
diff --git a/smarts/sstudio/generators.py b/smarts/sstudio/generators.py
index 2ef2055144..83e5c14ca2 100644
--- a/smarts/sstudio/generators.py
+++ b/smarts/sstudio/generators.py
@@ -221,8 +221,8 @@ def _writexml(
             if traffic.trips:
                 actors_for_vtypes |= {trip.actor for trip in traffic.trips}
                 vehicle_id_set = {trip.vehicle_name for trip in traffic.trips}
-                vehilce_ids_list = [trip.vehicle_name for trip in traffic.trips]
-                if len(vehicle_id_set) != len(vehilce_ids_list):
+                vehicle_ids_list = [trip.vehicle_name for trip in traffic.trips]
+                if len(vehicle_id_set) != len(vehicle_ids_list):
                     raise ValueError("Repeated single vehicle names is not allowed.")
 
             for actor in actors_for_vtypes:
diff --git a/smarts/sstudio/types.py b/smarts/sstudio/types.py
index 57ae2be288..ee06b37efe 100644
--- a/smarts/sstudio/types.py
+++ b/smarts/sstudio/types.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 import logging
 import math
 import random
-from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field, replace
 from enum import IntEnum
 from sys import maxsize
 from typing import (
@@ -518,7 +518,15 @@ def __post_init__(self):
         object.__setattr__(
             self,
             "actor",
-            TrafficActor(name=self.vehicle_name, vehicle_type=self.vehicle_type),
+            (
+                replace(
+                    self.actor, name=self.vehicle_name, vehicle_type=self.vehicle_type
+                )
+                if self.actor is not None
+                else TrafficActor(
+                    name=self.vehicle_name, vehicle_type=self.vehicle_type
+                )
+            ),
         )
 
     @property