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Little Vermont Uses Big Data to Predict Bridge Repairs and Traffic Jams

The state is exploring how AI and neural networks can help them forecast when vital infrastructure repairs are needed, years in advance.

Vermont may be a land of bucolic country roads. It is also a land of big data. State transportation engineers are using artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and even wonkier-sounding neural networks to better understand how roads and bridges might be deteriorating and in need of maintenance.

"It’s going to be key that we use that data to understand, and predict, everything from traffic congestion, to road conditions, to where we need signals," said John Quinn III, chief information officer for Vermont. "Those types of things will all come from data, I believe."

Vermont’s big data transportation AI initiative is an in-house project, while Iowa is collaborating with engineers from Iowa State University. But the private sector is also stepping up to provide transportation agencies with the analytics they require. StreetLight Data https://www.streetlightdata.com/ is a transportation analytics firm that uses data collected from mobile phones and connected vehicles to analyze traffic and transit patterns.

The company recently introduced a new tool that tells traffic planners, “not just what is happening, but why it’s happening,” said Laura Schewel, CEO of StreetLight Data. “A lot of tools can tell you where a traffic jam happens. Our tool can tell you why the traffic jam is happening, and what the best solution is,” she explained.

by Skip Descant

http://www.govtech.com/fs/infrastructure/Little-Vermont-Uses-Big-Data-to-Predict-Bridge-Repairs-and-Traffic-Jams.html

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