We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers working to solve challenges North Carolinians face with mobility and congestion. We seek not only to address daily challenges of navigating traffic congestion, but also to improve our state's residents' quality of life through addressing how to better actively manage autonomous transportation and enhance access to key services, such as healthcare.

Hosted by the Institute for Transportation Research & Education (ITRE) at North Carolina State University, this Center of Excellence brings together top experts from Duke, Fayetteville State, NC A&T, NC State, and UNC.

Theme 1: Big Data and Data-Driven Transportation Management and Decision Support

How can we effectively transform big data from traffic apps, traffic video, and other traffic sensory data to improve driving conditions for North Carolinians? Theme 1 seeks to make sense of the vast amount of data newly-available about traffic conditions and incidents to provide more accurate traffic state estimates to traffic controllers. Using an innovative approach to convert data to provide relevant information, this project will develop edge-computing, deep-learning software to help NCDOT better coordinate traffic signal systems. Click on Theme 1 to learn more about this project and the team working on it.

Theme 2: Active Transportation Management & Integrated Corridor Management

How can we effectively manage the coming fleets of autonomous vehicles that will soon be traveling our roads? Theme 2 explores how an operations center could be designed and would function to safely provide remote vehicle management both to improve traffic flow and aid in emergency situations. This project will develop a simulated supervisory control environment for smart fleet management. Click on Theme 2 to learn more about the project and the team working on it.

Theme 3: Transit and MaaS Role in Improving Economic and Healthcare Access for Underserved Populations

How can we increase access to economic and healthcare opportunities for North Carolinians? Theme 3 documents access patterns for healthcare and other destinations in North Carolina to identify the current landscape of mobility for healthcare and economic opportunities. Using the robust data obtained, the team will develop different healthcare service delivery scenarios to help policy makers and health care providers successfully implement models to improve healthcare access, particularly for rural and small city residents of our state.

Want to get in touch with us?

Center of Excellence contact

Dr. Billy Williams, Director
billy_williams@ncsu.edu
(919) 515-7813
909 Capability Dr., Suite 3600
Research Building IV
Raleigh, NC 27606