AI lab receives $5.85M from IDOT to help reduce traffic
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With $7.2 billion in wasted gasoline, time, and pollution due to traffic congestion, Chicago is the third worst urban area in the country according to the Texas Institute of Transportation. A $5,853,740 contract to UIC researchers in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory will help to address the problem. The UIC AI Laboratory developed the Gateway Transportation Information System (GTIS) in the early 1990s to help reduce congestion in Chicago and around the Midwest. GTIS is a system that collects, analyzes, and combines sensor data and anecdotal information from 24 transportation operating agencies and gives drivers real-time traffic information through its website TravelMidwest.com and mobile app Travel Midwest.
Since its inception, GTIS has grown to provide real-time traffic information coverage for Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, providing over 9 terabytes of real-time traffic information to thousands of users each year. The newest multi-million dollar research contract from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will expand the system’s coverage to Iowa and Ohio and will allow the team to develop a statewide lane closure system, improved map graphics, and new mobile app features.
Peter Nelson, PhD, director of the AI Laboratory, dean of the College, and professor of computer science, is the principal investigator; John Dillenburg, PhD, project director and associate director of the AI Laboratory, is the co-principal investigator; senior personnel include software engineer Doug Rorem and research engineer Caleb Drake.