Transportation Technology Tournament
Description
The National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the U.S. DOT ITS JPO PCB program announce a competition for students to work directly with state and local DOTs to solve real-world transportation problems utilizing ITS and TSMO solutions.
Student teams will assemble and work with a local or state agency to define a problem or challenge in their region, or choose to address one of the sample problems outlined below. After submitting an initial contest application identify the team and the problem or challenge, students will work with academic advisors to learn about potential ITS and TSMO solutions via online training programs outlined below. Teams will then utilize their experience, education, and new coursework to develop a solution or suite of solutions to directly address the originally defined problem. Students will submit their solutions via a proposal. Finalist teams will develop a presentation and then will be flown to the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) 2018 Annual Meeting in Minneapolis to give a live presentation in front of a panel of judges made up of leaders in the ITS and TSMO community.
Problem Statements
The challenge statements below are examples of the type and breadth of problems you might address at a local or state agency. If you’re unable to work with a local or state agency, up to three teams will be allowed to tackle each of the example problems below. If a problem already has three teams working on it, you may be asked to choose a different one or seek your own by working with your state or local agency.
Problem Statement #1: Pedestrian Safety
The City of Detroit was recently awarded a federal grant to evaluate and implement technology solutions for safety and connectivity in major corridors. A major initiative for this project includes pedestrian safety, including utilizing ITS and/or connected vehicle strategies. The challenge is to work with city and state transportation officials to identify potential technology solutions to increase pedestrian safety in up to four applicable corridors. Officals from Michigan and Detroit will be available to assist students should they choose this as their challenge.
Problem Statement #2: Special Event Traffic Magement Along Highways and Arterials
The August 21, 2017 Solar Eclipse presented a number of transportation challenges to state and local agencies who both expected and experienced a major increase in traffic to their region. Challenges included both day-of and advanced travel challenges and preparation had to take into account emergency management needs, traffic just before the event itself (in case of cloud cover), and expected congestion immediately following the event. Using the solar eclipse as a challenge, develop potential technology, planning, and safety solutions to assist both the traveling public during such an event and the transportation agency operating the roads being utilized during the event. Officials from Oregon DOT will be available to assist students should they choose this as their challenge.
Applications are due February 15, 2018.
For more information and application materials, click here.
Link: https://transportationops.org/transportation-technology-tournament
Leave a Reply