Skip to main content

Winners of AT&T traffic safety innovation challenge announced

The winners of AT&T's Connected Intersections Challenge, a technology challenge aimed at stimulating innovative solutions to improve traffic safety on New York City streets. Forty-five teams from 13 countries and 26 states submitted their apps and wearable devices ranging from smartphone sensors, phone-to-phone communications and natural user interfaces, among other technologies. The winners include: Tug, an app that alerts pedestrians as they are about to enter an intersection; an anti-sleep alarm
October 22, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
RSSThe winners of 1970 AT&T's Connected Intersections Challenge, a technology challenge aimed at stimulating innovative solutions to improve traffic safety on New York City streets.

Forty-five teams from 13 countries and 26 states submitted their apps and wearable devices ranging from smartphone sensors, phone-to-phone communications and natural user interfaces, among other technologies.

The winners include: Tug, an app that alerts pedestrians as they are about to enter an intersection; an anti-sleep alarm using a 1809 Samsung smartwatch and a smart phone to alert drivers when they are showing signs of drowsiness; RiderAlert, which scans for Bluetooth-enabled devices in traffic to alert drivers to the presence of cyclists and pedestrians; Drive Safely, an app that uses NFC technology to determine if a smartphone user is sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle and sends an auto-reply message to incoming calls and texts while the vehicle is moving; and Drowsy Detector which uses facial recognition technology to determine when a driver is getting drowsy and sends a warning followed by an alert that can be deactivated only when the driver stops.

"Today's mobile technology allows us to envision and create solutions to problems in completely new and different ways," said Marissa Shorenstein, New York State president of AT&T. "By focusing this challenge on traffic safety, AT&T hopes to spur a wave of innovation aimed at making our streets safer for all that use them. The creative solutions we see here today are just the beginning."

"New York City's Vision Zero initiative means that we need to use every tool in our arsenal to drive down traffic related fatalities and injuries. The AT&T Connected Intersections traffic safety tech challenge calls on the tech industry to try innovation as simple as the phone in your pocket to improve safety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians alike," said Kim Wiley-Schwartz, Assistant Commissioner for Education and Outreach, New York City's Department of Transportation. "We commend these entrepreneurs and applaud the efforts of AT&T and NYU Poly to do everything they can to make the streets safer."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Development of cooperative driving applications for work zones
    July 17, 2012
    The German AKTIV project is researching several cooperative driving applications for use in work zones. PTV's Michael Ortgiese details progress. The steep increases in traffic volumes predicted back in the early 1990s have unfortunately been proven to be more than accurate. In Germany, the AKTIV project continues to look into cooperative technologies' potential to reduce the impact of those increased traffic volumes and keep traffic moving despite limitations in infrastructure capacity.
  • Bombardier and Lilee Systems team up on New York MTA positive train control
    May 9, 2014
    Bombardier Transportation has selected Lilee Systems to design and deploy the communications systems for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (NYMTA) positive train control (PTC).
  • Dynamic safe driving messages raise awareness
    October 7, 2014
    In a new effort to warn drivers to focus on the road, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is using its more than 250 dynamic message signs on interstates and major highways to send safety messages to drivers. The state says speeding, impaired driving, not wearing seatbelts and distracted driving are some of the leading causes of the 550 deaths to date in 2014. "Messages like ‘Put Down Your Phone and Drive, It Can Wait' or ‘Leave All Tailgating at the Game' are designed to raise awareness o
  • Growth of outsourcing simplifies transportation operations
    June 11, 2012
    Xerox Chairman and CEO Ursula Burns will deliver the keynote address at the opening plenary of ITS America’s 2012 Annual Meeting in May. She talked to ITS International about the acquisition of ACS, its rebranding and the importance of the transportation sector to Xerox