Chattanooga could become a leader in real-time data and “super intelligence” to move freight and commuters more efficiently and improve safety, a federal Department of Transportation official said while visiting Monday.
Two initiatives highlight Chattanooga’s growing role in freight and transportation development, said John Eitel, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s deputy assistant secretary for research and technology.
Both use artificial intelligence, which Eitel notes is called “super intelligence” or “SI” by the second President Donald Trump administration.
“Chattanooga is leading the way with the live signal emergency vehicle preemption program on the M.L. King Boulevard,” Eitel said Monday in an interview at The Hotel Chalet at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. “Two million dollars in technology grants will allow ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency service vehicles that interact with traffic signals to move through traffic faster and safer. In other words, fire trucks will get to the fires faster, ambulances will get to the people, and that will save lives.”