NJ Transit awarded federal grant for AI mask detection, video analytics

The New Jersey (NJ) Transit Corporation has received $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Transportation under The Public Transportation COVID-19 Research Demonstration Grant Program to study the use of biometric mask detection and other video analysis.

The sum will go towards the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and video analytics tools to study customer flow on the River LINE light rail system.

The AI-powered biometric tools deployed as part of the project will include cameras featuring heat mapping, face mask detection, and capacity management capabilities.

“Thanks to this grant, NJ TRANSIT continues to build on its efforts to leverage technology to protect customers and employees amid this ongoing pandemic,” explained NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kevin Corbett.

The system will then analyze the effectiveness of these technologies, including real-time data analysis, forecasting, and anomaly detection, to help improve crowd management procedures.

“The data we collect from the video and artificial intelligence analysis is also expected to provide longer-term operational benefits and customer experience improvements,” Corbett added.

To enable passengers to take advantage of the pilot program, during its deployment, they will be able to access real-time crowd data via the NJ TRANSIT mobile app.

“Studying real-time customer flow will allow NJ TRANSIT to assess performance, improve operations and better respond to emergencies,” said U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, the Ranking Democrat on the Senate’s mass transit subcommittee. “If successful, this pilot program can eventually be deployed across the state’s entire transit system benefiting hundreds of thousands of daily commuters.”

Article Topics

AI  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  mask detection  |  pilot project  |  transportation  |  video analytics  |  video surveillance