Smart Commutes, Smarter Cities: A Government and Business Partnership

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Smart Commutes, Smarter Cities: A Government and Business Partnership

By Bailey Johnson, Julia Niederman, Abigail Oyekola, Çiğdem Patlak

The increase of Utahns working in-person in Salt Lake City has exacerbated traffic congestion and air pollution in the region. This project recommends that Utah’s Office of Artificial Intelligence (OAIP) launch a public-private data sharing initiative between the State of Utah, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), and major Salt Lake City employers. By gathering anonymized return-to-office scheduling data into an AI powered traffic modeling tool, the OAIP could help UDOT generate insights into how work schedules will impact congestion. Further, the proposed pilot would include privacy-by design principles, modeling best practices for AI governance and scalable public-private collaborations.

This project was completed as part of the 2025 Policy Primer, an Aspen Policy Academy program that teaches early to mid-career professionals how to impact policy.

See the Project