Transportation Department Launches AI Research Project to Improve Street Safety, Accessibility

The Department of Transportation has launched the Complete Streets AI Initiative, aiming to develop a tool powered by artificial intelligence to improve transportation across the United States.

Offered through the DOT’s Small Business Innovation Research program, the initiative will award 10 Phase 1 contracts to small businesses to build data and analytics capabilities that will help federal agencies work on “complete streets,” a concept that aims to make streets safer and more comfortable to increase mobility for all users, the Transportation Department said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that with the rapid innovation in both AI and transportation, the agency is turning to the emerging technology to address challenges faced in transportation.

The department’s AI program supports the Biden-Harris administration’s campaign for a safe and responsible deployment of AI technologies.

The project is not the first time the agency has looked into AI to improve transportation. The Federal Highway Administration launched a research effort in February 2020, seeking research proposals on AI applications for highway transportation.