Skip to main content

US joint university team wins ITE’s transportation challenge

A joint team from the Universities of Texas, Wyoming and Kansas has won the first Transportation Technology Tournament organised by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). The winning project set out to address what it called “non-recurrent congestion challenges” in Washington, DC, such as increased traffic on days when the Washington Nationals baseball team played at home. The team worked with the District Department of Transportation (DoT) to develop real-time traveller information systems to
August 28, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
A joint team from the Universities of Texas, Wyoming and Kansas has won the first Transportation Technology Tournament. The event was hosted at the 5667 Institute of Transportation Engineers’ (ITE) annual meeting and exhibit in downtown Minneapolis.

The winning project set out to address what it called “non-recurrent congestion challenges” in Washington, DC, such as increased traffic on days when the Washington Nationals baseball team played at home. The team worked with the 2134 District Department of Transportation (DoT) to develop real-time traveller information systems to give drivers more accurate travel times and alternative routes.

In second place, the judges chose Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo, California Polytechnic State University, for its work on pedestrian safety with the City of Detroit and the 1687 Michigan DoT.

North Dakota State University was also a finalist for working with the City of Moorhead, Minnesota, in providing train information near highway rail grade crossings.

Florida International University was also shortlisted for working on pedestrian safety in collaboration with the City of Gainesville, Florida.

The winner was announced at ITE’s Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Minneapolis. The tournament was organised by the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the US DoT. The four finalists were chosen from nine participating teams working with a local or state DoT to implement ITS technologies and transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) strategies.

The teams pitched their solutions to five judges which included Egan Smith, managing director, ITS joint program officer, US DoT and Arlene Kocher, division administrator, 831 Federal Highway Administration, US DoT.

After the presentations, the judges put forward questions to each team, which prompted them to elaborate on their innovations, consider alternative strategies and provide answers around procurement and the cost of their products.

All participants will now take part in local and regional meetings and discuss their proposals. In addition, the NOCoE intends to facilitate an additional discussion around the solutions with state and local agencies, industry leaders and potential deployers of ITS and TSMO solutions.

Related Content

  • Sign up for 24th ITS World Congress Montréal
    October 12, 2016
    The Future is Here Now: Integrated Mobility Driving Smart Cities - Regina Hopper, President and CEO of ITS America raises the curtain on the Montréal ITS World Congress 2017. By 2020, the Smart Cities market will be valued at more than $1.5 trillion USD. By 2025, it is expected that 58% of the world’s population—roughly 4.6 billion people—will live in urban areas. And by 2050, experts predict the world’s urban population will double. As the battle to maintain and create new infrastructure systems continu
  • Webinar: Mitigating post-Covid traffic congestion
    September 13, 2022
    Traffic congestion is nearly back to pre-Covid levels in top US downtowns - but it’s not too late to do something about it, says StreetLight
  • Sustainable mobility awards for Malmö and Brussels
    March 21, 2017
    The European Commission has announced the winners of the 2016 European sustainable urban mobility awards at a ceremony held in Brussels. Malmö, Sweden won the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2016 for its long-term focus on active transport modes such as cycling and walking, while the fifth Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning was presented to Brussels, Belgium for its successful freight strategy. Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden, receives the award for its efforts in promoting active travel
  • McCain takes on the Swarco name
    August 19, 2022
    It was in 2016 when US-based ITS supplier McCain became a part of the Swarco family.