The USA’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has made available US$60m of new grants to fund new and advanced technologies that improve transportation efficiency and safety.
The FHWA has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for states, cities and other agencies to compete for the new funding as part of its Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment Program (ATCMTD).
Created in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the ATCMTD program works to improve the performance of the country’s transportation systems, reduce traffic congestion and improve the safety of the traveling public. Now in its third round of grants, the FHWA is interested in projects that bring data together from different systems, such as integrated corridor management (ICM), real-time traveler information, traffic data collection and dissemination, and other intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies.
State departments of transportation (DOTs), local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and other eligible entities are invited to apply under the program, which closes on June 18. The ATCMTD initiative has already provided US$110m in funding to 18 projects in 13 states over 2016 and 2017, including the Virginia Port Authority’s truck reservation system, as well as enhancements to existing projects with proven successes, such as the Florida Department of Transportation’s Sunstore integrated data system for travelers, Pittsburgh’s SmartPGH to connect communities to transportation, and California’s GoPort freight project in Alameda County.
The FHWA will contribute up to 50% of the cost of eligible projects. ATCMTD grant recipients can use the funding to deploy advanced transportation and congestion management technologies, including:
• Advanced traveler information systems;
• Advanced transportation management technologies;
• Infrastructure maintenance, monitoring, and condition assessment;
• Advanced public transportation systems;
• Transportation system performance data collection, analysis and dissemination systems;
• Advanced safety systems, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications;
• Technologies associated with autonomous vehicles, and other collision avoidance technologies, including systems using cellular technology;
• Integration of intelligent transportation systems with the smart grid and other energy distribution and charging systems;
• Electronic pricing and payment systems;
• Advanced mobility and access technologies, such as dynamic ridesharing and information systems to support human services for elderly and disabled individuals.
“These grants promote the use of cutting-edge technology to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Brandye L Hendrickson. “Innovation will improve connections between rural communities and provide all Americans with safer transportation options.”
