
“The Department of Transportation is allocating $15 million in federal funding for small businesses to take advantage of artificial intelligence systems and create new applications specifically for the U.S. transportation sector,” according to an article by Alexandra Kelley in NextGov.
The Small Business Innovation Research Program “is intended to foster decision-support tools for state and local governments that can help design and deploy a network of Complete Streets, a longstanding agency initiative to support the construction of livable, connective public streets.”
USDOT hopes new technology can help bridge data gaps to help cities assess their existing pedestrian and bike infrastructure and plan improvements.
According to Kelley, “The AI systems themselves will likely be formed from a suite of interactive data analytics tools intended for city and urban planning professionals. In addition to automation, other advanced technologies Transportation is looking for include systems operating on the internet-of-things; satellite, aerial or street-level videography; and computer vision.”