The map was made as part of a collaboration between the University of Hawaiʻi and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provided $270,000 for the project. Researchers used Google Earth Engine and Google’s DeepMind, an artificial intelligence system, to do the work.
After the 2023 train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, freight railroads promised to join a federal safety program that lets employees anonymously report mistakes. Only two pilot programs have launched.