POLARIS User Group 2026
4th Annual POLARIS User Group (PUG) Workshop – June 17-19, 2026
The Vehicle and Mobility Systems (VMS) Department is excited to announce the 4th Annual POLARIS User Group Workshop planned for June 17-19, 2026. The workshop brings together students, researchers, professors, planning agency staff, transit professionals, and state and federal entities at DOT and DOE for a three-day series of presentations and training, sessions and breakout discussions on the development, use, and improvement of POLARIS – the DOE-funded agent-based transportation forecasting tool.
This year’s workshop will be held at the **University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)** in an auditorium-styled classroom setting to accommodate a large audience while maintaining the interactive nature of the workshop. The key focus areas for the 4th PUG workshop are the following:
- Leveraging AI in transportation models in POLARIS
- POLARIS studies for enhancing transportation affordability
- Modeling autonomous vehicles (AVs) within POLARIS
- Recent advances in the POLARIS simulation framework – with a focus on freight, parking, and land use improvements
- POLARIS research and studies from collaborators and stakeholder experience in using or working with POLARIS and Autonomie.
- Other experience in agent-based transportation and related modeling.
For a flavor of the material attendees can expect, presentation files from the 3rd Annual POLARIS User Group Workshop can be accessed at https://polaris.taps.anl.gov/polaris/pug/index.html
Hands-on POLARIS Tutorial
The 4th Annual PUG workshop will conditionally offer a half day hands-on POLARIS Tutorial on June 16th, 2026 at the workshop venue at UIC. Use the registration form to indicate interest in attending a tutorial and hands-on setup of POLARIS. Overall, this half-day will cover topics such as:
- Obtaining and setting up a POLARIS license if you do not already have one
- Setting up environments on individual computers with the latest release of Polaris-Studio and POLARIS
- Running test runs with a toy model to confirm ability to run POLARIS locally
- Any questions that may require one-on-one time ranging from model building, model use, scenario setting, and consequent KPI creation and querying from results.
Registration
Attendance at the 4th Annual PUG workshop requires every attendee to be registered. No fees are required to register and attend the workshop, however, on-time registration allows us to plan to host the attendees at the event appropriately.
Please register to attend the workshop using the following form no later than **May 15th**.
Call for Abstracts
VMS staff have planned several training sessions and presentations for the workshop. We are also inviting attendees to submit short abstracts for presentation at the workshop. Abstracts can cover the content of the proposed presentation, how it will be useful to the attendees, and who is the target audience. Abstracts must include a proposed presentation title, authors name and affiliation, and denote who will present if accepted.
Please submit the abstract using the following form no later than **May 15th**
Travel Honorarium Available for Students*
The Vehicle and Mobility Systems Department is making available a handful of travel honoraria if presenting at the workshop. Students of valid academic status are eligible for the honorarium. Due to the limited availability of funds, students wishing to receive the travel honorarium are required to submit an abstract to enroll. Approval to receive the travel honorarium will be announced along with the abstract acceptance. Travel honorariums will be provided as a fixed amount.
*Restrictions apply.
Agenda
Program Agenda available here: https://anl.box.com/s/6y0oxvvziil7bp7ul6g6ofeu9o90hac7
Venue
Address: 1218 S. Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60607
Building: Thomas Beckham Hall at UIC
Conference Room: TBH 180-F (from June 17-19)
Hands-On Training Rooms: TBH 180-B, 180-C, and 180-D (on June 16th)
Suggestions for accommodation
Several options exist in the River North, Loop, and West Loop areas, across varying budgets. We recommend finding accommodation in West Loop and Loop for its proximity to UIC and transit availability.
Additionally, there are **limited rooms** available offered by UIC Campus Housing. These are single rooms with a shared bathroom (with one other person), with the option to get the full suite. For more information about this low-cost option, please navigate to the UIC Housing Page: POLARIS User Group (PUG) Workshop - Housing Application – Fill out form
Note:
- There is a deadline to reserve this space. Please do so by **May 1st, 2026**.
- When registering, 10% of your stay cost is due, and full payment due 30 days before check-in
Networking Lunches and Happy Hour
Throughout the workshop, Argonne staff will plan networking lunches (cost borne by each individual) in a variety of interest groups. Those interested in talking to people in specific focus areas are welcome to reach out in advance to facilitate the best use of time. An informal Happy Hour gathering will also take place on Thursday.
If interested in either of these plans, please let one of us know during registration, so that we can coordinate with all interested parties and convey the plan for each day ahead of time.
Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Registration Deadline | May 15th, 2026 (subject to space availability) |
| Abstract Submission Deadline | May 15th, 2026 |
| UIC Accommodation Deadline (if applicable) | May 1st, 2026 |
| UIC Housing Full Payment Due | May 15th, 2026 |
| Workshop Agenda Posted | May 22nd, 2026 |
| Honoraria Decisions Made | May 26th, 2026 |
| Workshop | June 17-19th, 2026 |