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

  • FHWA collaborative framework on automated driving systems: an explainer
    September 26, 2023
    USDoT FHWA has put together a collaborative framework to help secure the roll-out of automated driving systems in the US. John Harding of FHWA explains the thinking…
  • Mexico City seeks solutions to improve air quality
    December 6, 2017
    David Crawford ponders prospects for one of the world’s most congested and polluted cities. In 1992, the United Nations named Mexico City as the world’s most polluted urban centre. In the first half of 2016, following the updating of pollution alert limits to meet international standards, Mexico recorded 115 days where ozone concentrations exceeded the acute exposure health limit.
  • Baron launches weather condition solution for US DoTs
    September 6, 2018
    Technology company Baron Weather says its solution can help US Department of Transportation (DoT) services monitor current and forecasted weather conditions. Called Baron Threat Net, the platform also features patented road weather and pavement conditions forecasts. The device comes with a network operations display, mobile app and custom location alerting. In addition, it is intended to integrate a state’s road weather sensor data into a single display. An unnamed US state DoT recently integrated Threat
  • US 511 system, the future of traveller information?
    April 23, 2013
    What started out at the turn of the millenium as a simple dial-up travel information service has grown out of all recognition in the digital age. Pete Goldin surveys the development to date of the US 511 traveller information system. In a little over a decade, 511 has gone from its original intent – a collection of recorded messages accessible via phone for pre-trip planning – to a network of dynamic traveller information services provided by states and cities throughout the US, offering access to a wide v