Smart mobility research plans the way for next-generation transportation

Evolving technologies transform the way we move and transport goods — from the invention of paved roads to the integration of digital technology into our transportation system.

Illinois Center for Transportation and Illinois Department of Transportation plan for this digital revolution in a joint project, “R27-228: Smart Mobility Blueprint for Illinois.”

Angeli Jayme, ICT research scientist, leads the project with Imad Al-Qadi, ICT director and UIUC Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, as well as Michael Vanderhoof, IDOT’s Bureau Chief of Planning.

Also leading the project are Northwestern University Transportation Center’s senior associate director Breton Johnson and director Hani Mahmassani as well as Mobility IL’s Jerry Quandt, alongside graduate students Berkan Usta, Nadim Hamad and Divyakant Tahlyan.

Here the research team seeks to identify, organize and prioritize resources to help the state of Illinois prepare for this digital transportation revolution.

Key is their focus on how to streamline and leverage Illinois’ existing resources to plan for connected, automated, shared and electric transportation (CASE) technologies.

“As a researcher, you always try to take into account advancements in technology, and one of the main disruptions is data and connectivity and digitization,” Jayme said. “Currently, the state doesn’t have a nicely tailored, organized way to jump into that next step.”

To map out potential next steps for Illinois, Quandt synthesized key activities, efforts and resources across academic, public and private sectors in Illinois related to CASE technologies.

The research team identified seven focus areas for Illinois: connected and automated freight, scaling intelligent transportation systems, farm automation, insurance, urban mobility, connected and automated logistics, and alternative fuels. 

Johnson and Mahmassani’s NUTC team conducted surveys, interviews and workshops with stakeholders from transportation agencies, private industries and academic institutions, among others, to determine key areas and needs for mobility in Illinois.

“This work tells us where stakeholders think we should be focusing, which is a very important part of long-term planning,” Vanderhoof said.

The ICT team combined all data gathered and used natural language processing — a form of artificial intelligence that allows computers to interpret and categorize human language — to quantify and score the responses.

Taking top priority for Illinois was alternative fuels or electrification, followed by scaling intelligent transportation systems and connected and automated freight.

They also identified key focus areas within each area as well as provided Illinois decision-makers with near-term actions such as establishing a central program for CASE technologies, preparing infrastructure, and supporting regulations and policies.

Jayme credits the project’s success to the collaboration between the various entities involved, including IDOT, UIUC, NUTC, Mobility IL, Illinois Tollway, Tri County Regional Planning Commission and Federal Highway Administration.

“Altogether, we came up with something that we know is a first step, and, hopefully, this effort will be a dynamic update, because these technologies are evolving,” Jayme said. “Illinois’ plan should also evolve, so hopefully this is just a brink of how Illinois can move toward the future of smarter, advanced mobility.”