USC project Crosstown Traffic creates LA transportation super-database

EXPOSITION PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Researchers at the University of Southern California have created a public database that can help motorists in Los Angeles determine the safest routes and times to drive in the Southland.

The engineering and journalism students wanted to arm drivers with information to help them make an educated decision on commutes in an effort to save time and improve safety.

The joint effort resulted in the Crosstown Traffic project.

Using data from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 17,000 street sensors, GPS from 2,000 buses and hundreds of accident reports, the students created a public database.

"This data refreshes in our database every 30 seconds to one minute," Ugur Demiryurek with USC's Integrated Media Systems Center explained. "At the end of the day we get 23 million new pieces of information."

The database also provides information on the fastest bus routes and the roadways with the most crashes.

Project leaders said they hope that Crosstown Traffic will not just impact daily commutes, but provide information to improve traffic flow projects.

"As voters in Los Angeles we have endorsed an investment of billions upon billions of dollars into improving our mobility," Gabriel Kahn with USC's Annenberg School of Journalism said.