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

  • MDOT recreates its traffic management center at 2014 ITS World Congress
    September 7, 2014
    The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has recreated its Southeast Michigan Traffic Management Center (Booth: 2027) at 2014 ITS World Congress. The center is recognised as one of the most innovative TMCs in the U.S., having to deal with a complex multi-modal transportation network on the border of Canada.
  • Iteris demonstrates major presence in transportation management
    May 1, 2015
    Iteris has a major presence at this year’s ITS America Annual meeting as the company continues finding traction for its suite of transportation management solutions that measure, manage and inform users. The company’s participation will kick off on Sunday, May 31 with the Iteris-sponsored bicycle tour of downtown Pittsburgh which will pass through an intersection where the firm’s enhanced bicycle detection algorithm in the latest version of its award-winning SmartCycle innovation will be on display.
  • Pedestrians still walking a tightrope in US
    August 23, 2024
    Although the Governors Highway Safety Association says annual US pedestrian traffic deaths fell for first time since Covid, they remain above pre-pandemic levels, finds David Arminas
  • ABB charging technology available in 95% EV countries
    January 24, 2018
    ABB has announced that its charging technology is now available in 95% of the world’s countries with an electric vehicle (EV) presence. It has also confirmed that its sales of DC fast chargers have exceeded 6,500 ranging from 50 kW up to 450kW which also includes high-power chargers for both cars and buses. The technology is designed with the intention of supporting global e-mobility charging standards.