U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Free Public Webinar: Intersection Safety Challenge – From Conceptualization to Initial Testing

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will host a webinar on July 27 to discuss the Intersection Safety Challenge, which launched on April 25, 2023. This webinar will share engagement opportunities to support U.S. DOT’s goal of moving intersection safety systems from conceptualization toward initial testing.

Each year, roughly one-quarter of traffic fatalities and about one-half of all traffic injuries in the United States are attributed to intersections. In response to growing concerns regarding the safety of vulnerable road users at intersections and as part of the recent National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS) Call to Action, the U.S. DOT aims to transform intersection safety through the innovative application of emerging technologies to identify and mitigate unsafe conditions involving vehicles and vulnerable road users.

To help address this growing problem and support U.S. DOT’s vision, U.S. DOT launched the Intersection Safety Challenge. This Challenge includes a multi-stage Prize Competition to encourage teams of innovators and end-users to develop and test intersection safety systems (ISS) to compete for up to $6 million total in prizes. Stage 1A (Concept Assessment) of the Prize Competition is currently accepting submissions until Monday, September 25, 2023, at 5:00 P.M. EDT.

The Challenge is considering the potential of emerging technologies to transform intersection safety and ensure equity among all road users (including vehicles and vulnerable road users). Leveraging emerging technologies to anticipate, prevent, and mitigate unsafe roadway conditions could augment traditional safety engineering in roadway design and intersection control. These emerging technologies could include machine vision, machine perception, sensor fusion, real-time decision-making, artificial intelligence, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (among other approaches). In most cases, these technologies rely on real-time decision-making informed by data ingested and analyzed from multiple sensor systems.

This webinar will discuss the U.S. DOT Intersection Safety Challenge, including a program overview, the Challenge vision and structure from conceptualization to initial testing, and a summary of frequently asked questions on Stage 1A eligibility, technical considerations, prizes, etc. Please register for this webinar by visiting the following registration link: https://usdotiscwebinar3.eventbrite.com.

For more information about the program, please visit the program website, https://its.dot.gov/isc, and Prize Competition page, https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=us-dot-intersection-safety-challenge. For more information about the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO), please visit: https://www.its.dot.gov/.

Date/Time: Thursday, July 27, 2023; 11:30 A.M. – 12:45 P.M. ET

Registration Link: https://usdotiscwebinar3.eventbrite.com