August 13, 2024
(press release)
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Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it intends to award a total of $2.4 million in contracts to twelve (12) American small businesses from across the country to leverage advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve transportation. With funding from the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the Complete Streets AI Initiative is a multi-phase effort to develop robust new decision support tools for state, local, and Tribal transportation agencies that assist in the siting, design, and deployment of Complete Streets, which are streets and networks that prioritize safety, comfort, and connectivity to destinations for all people who use them. The program supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to safe, trustworthy, and responsible deployment of artificial intelligence technologies, as outlined in the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. “Innovation in the AI and transportation sector is happening at unprecedented speed, and the Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to responsibly using this emerging technology to address some of our most pressing transportation challenges," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The funding we’re announcing today supports our country’s small businesses and startups so they can harness cutting-edge advancements, deploy them in local communities, and make our streets safer.” Basic data about parts of the transportation network like roadway assets (such as bike lanes and sidewalks) and traveler volumes (such as counts of pedestrians and bicyclists) are often incomplete or unavailable. These projects will demonstrate the potential of novel, AI-based data generation and processing methods to produce useful content to assist state, local, and tribal transportation agencies in developing Complete Streets. Phase I awards will serve as proof-of-concept projects utilizing multiple data sources and tools with the potential to be further tested and deployed in follow-on Phases. “Complete Streets are easier to plan with more complete data. This is a bold effort to build out that data along with the technology platforms that make it easy to use,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer Dr. Robert C. Hampshire. The 12 Phase I contracts of $200,000 each will be awarded to a diverse set of companies from coast to coast: SBIR 24.2 Phase I Award Recommendations for the Complete Streets AI Initiative Company Name Project Title City State Aiwaysion Inc. Artificial Intelligence Approach to Generate and Analyze Complete Streets Data at Scale Seattle WA Creare LLC Data Processing and Analysis Framework for Infrastructure Planning to Promote Active Transport Hanover NH JC-TECHS Corp. Scalable and Sustainable AI Solutions for Complete Streets Data Creation and Maintenance with Off-the-shelf Dash Cams University Place WA Kittelson and Associates Safe Routes for All (SR4A) - Using AI-Based Image Recognition and Machine Learning Algorithms for Network-Wide Assessment and Routing of Multimodal Trips Based on Level of Traffic Stress Wilmington NC Kitware, Inc. Complete Urban To Rural Balanced Streets By Artificial Intelligent Design (CURBS-AID) Clifton Park NY Numobility LLC Safe Accessible Multimodal Mobility Intelligence (SAMMI) for All Road Users Atlanta GA OpalAI Inc. AI for City Beverly Hills CA Skylite Group CSAI Phase I - Skylite Group Bethesda MD State of Place AI for Complete, Equitable Streets (ACES): Using Computer Vision and Machine Learning to Deliver Data-Driven Guidance for Complete Streets Natick MA TrAnalytics LLC Complete Pavement Markings for Safe and Complete Streets Bedford MA VELO.AI, INC. Informing Infrastructure Interventions via Novel Near-Miss Data Collection Pittsburgh PA WCEC Engineers, Inc. Complete Street Data Collection and Assessment using Machine Vision Salt Lake City UT
The SBIR program, administered for the Department by the Volpe Center in Cambridge, MA supports investments in all modes of transportation that improve the safety, sustainability, and resilience of the Nation’s transportation assets, and provides opportunities for small businesses to explore innovative technologies. For more on the Complete Streets AI initiative, see http://its.dot.gov/CSAI.
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