Contract

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in the US has awarded a $5.5m research contract to UIC’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI Lab) to continue research, development and operation of the Gateway Traveler Information System and the TravelMidwest.com website.

Said to run through June 2016, the new research contract extends the relationship between IDOT and UIC’s AI Laboratory.

Co-principal investigator and project director on the contract John Dillenburg said the contract will allow the AI Lab to continue bringing real-time traffic information to travellers while creating new and improved software systems for traffic control.

"We are always enhancing the Gateway system," Dillenburg said.

"We are always enhancing the Gateway system."

Interactive maps developed through the IDOT-UIC partnership reduce the $6.2bn waste that occurs annually in gasoline, time and pollution by providing travellers information to avoid congestion.

By scrolling and zooming the maps, users can focus on the most useful information and delete data that is not required.

As part of the research contract, IDOT’s statewide lane-closure system will be expanded allowing contractors in the Chicago area to register and submit requests to close traffic lanes.

The online system helps to check new requests in order to ensure a buffer zone is maintained between construction projects.

Under the contract, real-time congestion will also be expanded reporting south to cover the entire state, and east and west to span the I-94 corridor from Minneapolis/St Paul to Detroit.

The AI Lab plans to introduce an update of the mobile app so as to make it available to Windows phones as well as the currently supported iPhones as well as Androids.

Image: Senior research scientist in computer science John Dillenburg with systems specialists Poodipeddi and Anjum Malik. Photo: courtesy of Roberta Dupuis-Devlin/UIC Photo Services.