General Competition (November 1994)

A Software Technology for Optimizing On-time Performance in the Transportation Industry

Sponsor: Union Switch & Signal, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 1/15/1995 - 1/14/1997
• Total project (est.): $2,924,000.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Inefficiencies and congestion in the U.S. transportation system result in delays, air pollution, and reduced productivity. Given the current push for intermodal transportation, many distinct transportation networks must be improved and integrated. Although attempts are made now to optimize the schedules of individual airlines, railroads, and public transportation services, no method exists or is under development for optimizing and integrating on a national basis the scheduling of multiple, distinct transportation modes in real time. The goal of the ATP project is to develop a distributed, software-based technology that handles intermodal transportation logistics on both a local and nationwide basis. The system framework--known as Asynchronous Team, or A Team technology--consists of multiple software agents, each incorporating a particular algorithm, acting autonomously; the actions of the various algorithms then are combined in parallel to produce an optimal solution. The technology will be demonstrated with a partner in the railroad industry. If successful and deployed across U.S. transportation sectors and systems, the scheduling system would make use of data transmitted via the evolving "information superhighway."

For project information:

Anthony A. Florence, (803) 929-1202

ATP Project Manager

Jack Boudreaux, (301) 975-3560
jack.boudreaux@nist.gov