The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) this week announced it has teamed up with the University of Cincinnati (UC) on predictive software that helps airport officials anticipate bottlenecks and minimize wait times for passengers.
CVG turned to UC College of Engineering and Applied Science aerospace engineering doctoral student Javier Viaña to utilize airport data to create a software program to help the airport predict when travelers arrive at the airport broken down into 15-minute increments.
By leveraging data collected by another program previously developed by CVG, Viaña has been able to specifically model queue lines at the security checkpoint.
“The main objective of this work is to improve the passenger experience and inform operational decision-making at the airport,” said Candace McGraw, CVG CEO. “The modeling done by Javier provides the airport and our business partners reliable data to prepare our operations based on passenger arrival predictions, potentially reducing crowding and wait times along the travel journey from parking and check-in to security screening and concessions.”
UC’s work is funded in part through a grant from the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), an industry-driven network that develops near-term practical solutions to airport challenges.
“What makes this model unique is how UC is using artificial intelligence based on fuzzy logic, a type of computer decision making that allows us to provide a human-like explanation for its predictions,” said Viaña. “We refer to this type of algorithms as explainable and transparent.”
