Ep. 35: 8 Ways to Apply AI in Transportation Planning to Prevent Bias

Episode Summary: Listen to national experts and certified planners, Keli Kemp and Kirsten Mote, both with Modern Mobility Partners, talk about how artificial intelligence can be used in transportation planning to prevent bias. Listeners will learn the following in Episode 35:

• Eight practical ways to apply AI in transportation planning to prevent bias
• How AI can improve data collection, analysis, and monitoring for mitigating transportation bias
• Considerations for data inclusivity when implementing AI solutions
• Techniques to use AI in community engagement
• Real-world examples of AI applications in public transit and mobility services
• Considerations to make for transparent and responsible AI decision-making

Links:

• USDOT guidance - Ensuring Reliance Upon Sound Economic Analysis in Department of Transportation Policies, Programs, and Activities https://www.transportation.gov/mission/ensuring-reliance-upon-sound-economic-analysis-department-transportation-policies-programs
• USDOT guidance - Implementation of Executive Orders Addressing Energy, Climate Change, Diversity, and Gender https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/signed-secretarial-memo-re-implementation-executive-orders-addressing-energy-climate
• TRB Webinar: Equity in Artificial Intelligence Applications https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/05-22-2023/trb-webinar-equity-in-artificial-intelligence-applications
• Geospatial data and data collection required by transportation AI analysis https://www.ecopiatech.com/resources/blog/transforming-transportation-equity-with-ai-powered-mapping-data
• AI predictive applications – Transit Desert Interactive Dashboard https://sites.utexas.edu/uil/2024/07/27/developing-a-transit-desert-interactive-dashboard-supervised-modeling-for-forecasting-transit-deserts/
• Federal Transit Administration Accelerating Innovative Mobility https://www.transit.dot.gov/AIM
• AI applications in public transit services - Transit Service with Smart Dispatch Using Artificial Intelligence https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-09/FTA-Report-No-0269.pdf
• Article about AI transportation decision-making https://www.kittelson.com/ideas/how-ai-thinks-about-transportation-planning/

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, AICP, PTP. Keli holds a M.S. degree in Urban Planning from Texas A&M University.
• Kirsten Mote, AICP, has over 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 M.S. degree in City Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Guest Speaker:

• Sean Zhang, PhD, has one year of experience in transportation planning consulting. Sean is a Transportation Planner with Modern Mobility Partners. Sean holds a Ph.D. degree in Geography and a Master of GIS degree from the University of Minnesota.

Modern Mobility Partners is an Atlanta-based women and minority-owned transportation planning and traffic engineering consulting firm. Service areas include smart mobility and transportation planning, demand modeling and traffic engineering, and data analytics and visualization.

If you are interested in learning more about Modern Mobility Partners, please visit www.modernmobilitypartners.com.

To obtain AICP CM credits, search for “Modern Mobility Partners” in the https://planning.org AICP CM portal to find all episodes.