Ep. 29: 6 Ways Planners Need to Consider Artificial Intelligence in Transportation Planning

Episode Summary:  Listen to national experts and certified planners, Keli Kemp, Kirsten Mote, and Matt Reeves with Modern Mobility Partners, talk about what planners can do to utilize Artificial Intelligence in Transportation Planning. Listeners will learn the following in Episode 29:

• Non-technical use cases for AI in the planning process including:
  • Background information and report drafting
  • Public engagement and education
• Technical use cases for AI in transportation planning including:
  • Existing conditions mapping
  • Safety
  • Transportation modeling
• Impact of AI on transportation infrastructure

The show ends with a high-level discussion highlighting some of the limitations and caution for planners using Artificial Intelligence. 

Links:

• PSMJ A.I. Meets AEC provides a detailed review of what A.I. is and how it is currently used and its potential in the AEC industry. The guidebook provides a review intended for business executives to better prepare for A.I.
• ChatGPT and other text-based AI tools can be used to quickly learn about new transportation topics, draft narratives, and discover new ideas for consideration in transportation planning. https://chat.openai.com/
• UrbanistAI allows for a collaborative designing process using AI to visualize changes to the urban landscape. https://www.urbanistai.com/
• ESRI is using Artificial Intelligence to detect land uses, impervious surfaces, and track environmentally sensitive areas from aerial imagery. https://www.esri.com/en-us/artificial-intelligence/overview
• IBM’s AI tools can use lidar imaging to map trees and estimate how much carbon is captured. https://www.fastcompany.com/90655986/ibms-new-ai-tool-figures-out-exactly-how-much-carbon-each-tree-can-capture
• Streetlight uses AI to process large amounts of traffic data from GPS devices, smartphones, and sensors, analyze travel patterns, and to build predictive and scenario models for transportation. https://www.streetlightdata.com/transportation-modeling
• GM’s Safety View utilizes AI processing capabilities to provide a dynamic dashboard and near real-time data to pinpoint dangerous roads, prioritize high-impact solutions, and create actionable plans for accelerated implementation. https://futureroads.gm.com/site/us/en/gm-future-roads/home.html
• AI is a small autonomous and contactless delivery robot that uses sidewalks to make short-distance deliveries. https://delivers.ai/
• Waymo is considered the leading passenger autonomous vehicle in operation which uses AI processing to predict movement behavior of the surrounding cars, cyclists, pedestrians, and more. https://waymo.com/
• Via’s proprietary algorithms for route planning and demand-response transit services are changing the needs for transit infrastructure and how people move through communities. https://ridewithvia.com/
• Research on Preparing Infrastructure for Automated Vehicles highlights transportation infrastructure and policy considerations to enable safe and efficient implementation of autonomous vehicles. https://www.itf-oecd.org/preparing-infrastructure-automated-vehicles

Co-Hosts:

• Keli Kemp, AICP, PTP has 25 years of experience in transportation planning and consulting and co-founded Modern Mobility Partners in early 2018 with Jennifer Zhan. Keli holds a M.S. degree in Urban Planning from Texas A&M University.
• Kirsten Mote, AICP has 15 years of experience in transportation planning and is certified by MIT Media Lab’s Beyond Smart Cities program. Kirsten is an Associate Vice President and Director of Smart Mobility Planning with Modern Mobility Partners. Kirsten holds a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Guest Speaker:

• Matt Reeves, AICP has 4 years of experience in transportation planning with previous experience in software development and database management. Matt is a Transportation Planner with Modern Mobility Partners and holds an M.S. degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Modern Mobility Partners is an Atlanta-based women and minority-owned transportation planning and