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4/2/2024
New Jersey Transit has been awarded a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to fund artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems designed to improve safety at light-rail grade crossings.
NJ Transit will work with the Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) to research and develop the systems. The primary focus of the initiative is to significantly enhance safety while reducing accidents at light-rail grade crossings and on rights of way, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.
The data collected from the systems will provide critical information to help reduce pedestrian and vehicle strikes and serve as a foundation for community-driven safety improvement solutions.
In the project's first stage, NJ Transit and Rutgers will develop a prototype AI-powered technology solution consisting of stationary cameras at five crossings and forward-facing cameras in one Hudson-Bergen Line light-rail vehicle. The technology aims to improve safety and detection, while offering valuable guidance for future infrastructure enhancements in other areas of mass transit, NJ Transit officials said.
The new technologies will improve safety in and around the communities the agency serves, said NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett.
"Alongside Rutgers CAIT, we are working to set a new standard in transportation safety aimed at preventing grade crossing incidents leveraging the power of artificial intelligence," he said.