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

  • The ice man cometh
    August 7, 2018
    Extreme meteorological events have captured global headlines in recent years. Adam Hill talks to Vaisala’s Mark DeVries about what that means for transportation companies trying to keep roads clear. Extreme meteorological events have captured global headlines in recent years. Adam Hill talks to Vaisala’s Mark DeVries about what that means for transportation companies trying to keep roads clear
  • City of Cambridge partners with Volpe on truck side guards
    May 28, 2015
    The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts is partnering with Volpe, the National Transportation Systems Center, to install truck side guards on city-owned trucks in order to enhance safety for pedestrians and bicyclists travelling in Cambridge. The city intends to install these side guards on heavy-duty vehicles in an effort to lead by example in Massachusetts and to encourage private entities to do the same.
  • Wyoming develops open-source RSU monitoring app
    September 16, 2019
    A connected vehicle project in the US state of Wyoming has developed an open-source application to allow third parties to monitor safety along the I-80 highway. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDoT) Connected Vehicle Pilot includes the deployment of 75 roadside units (RSUs) along 400 miles of I-80. WYDoT’s app allows authorised transportation management centre (TMC) operators to monitor and manage each RSU on the route – and can also be used to let the travelling public know what is happening.
  • Wyoming develops open-source RSU monitoring app
    September 16, 2019
    A connected vehicle project in the US state of Wyoming has developed an open-source application to allow third parties to monitor safety along the I-80 highway. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDoT) Connected Vehicle Pilot includes the deployment of 75 roadside units (RSUs) along 400 miles of I-80. WYDoT’s app allows authorised transportation management centre (TMC) operators to monitor and manage each RSU on the route – and can also be used to let the travelling public know what is happening.