Agentic LLM-powered Synthetic Transportation Agent Response System (AL-STARS)

Household travel surveys help to gather data on travel trends and are a key part of transportation planning. Gathering this data has become challenging, however, as response rates have been decreasing. This project will develop a web-based travel survey tool (AL-STARS) that generates realistic, synthetic travel data. AL-STARS will use an advanced AI model to simulate travelers in Illinois, allowing planners and modelers to test transportation ideas and survey questions virtually before real-world use. The project will help IDOT make better decisions in infrastructure and policy by providing a more accurate, diverse and cost-effective way to understand how different communities — especially undersampled population groups — actually travel.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $400,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  R27-293

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Illinois Department of Transportation

  Bureau of Materials and Physical Research
  126 East Ash Street
  Springfield, IL  United States  62704-4766
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  Illinois Center for Transportation
  1611 Titan Drive
  Rantoul, IL  United States  61866
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

  842 W Taylor St
  Chicago, IL  United States  60607
• Principal Investigators:

  Derrible, Sybil

• Start Date: 20260516
• Expected Completion Date: 20290815
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Research and Development

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Artificial intelligence; Households; Simulation; Travel behavior; Travel surveys
• Geographic Terms: Illinois
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01989330
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Illinois Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: R27-293
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: May 15 2026 9:28AM