The University of Cincinnati and a team of researchers from two local transit agencies have been awarded $5.1 million to test and report on digital technologies that could speed up transit construction projects.
The award from the U.S. Department of Transportation will enable the team to test digital systems that manage the construction life cycle of transit infrastructure projects with the goal of improving efficiency and delivering the projects on time.
UC faculty and staff from the Southwest Ohio Regional Transportation Authority and the Butler County Regional Transit Authority will conduct the study and subsequent demonstrations of the technologies.
“Our goal is to help transit agencies deliver projects on time, on task, and on budget,” says Veronica Vanterpool, deputy administrator of the DOT’s Federal Transit Administration.
The award is part of a
federal program to enable transit agencies to test digital technologies and capabilities in real-world construction project settings, determine their feasibility, understand the impacts, and determine the usefulness of the results.
Metro, Greater Cincinnati's bus system, is currently in the design and planning phase of a
bus rapid transit project that will include new bus stations built on platforms, new fare machines, changes to traffic-signal timing, and possibly bus-only lanes on roadways. The first corridors for the project will run along Hamilton Avenue and Reading Road.
Many transit agencies have used some technologies such as online document management and asset management systems, but few have adopted systems that integrate all the functions of an infrastructure project, the department says. Those could include cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data integration, modeling and simulation, and real-time data processing.
The funding was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2021.
The federal agency cited UC’s background in research, access to university labs, and technical expertise in making the award.
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