The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Monday that it will provide 20 small businesses in 14 states with more than $3 million in contracts to research and develop innovative solutions to the country’s transportation challenges.
The contracts, part of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, are designed to help small businesses go from research to commercialization of new transportation technologies.
“The selected projects have the potential to improve safety and infrastructure on highways, rail, pipelines, and in our vehicles,” said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R).
Awards were made based on DOT research priorities and were administered by the USDOT Volpe Center in Cambridge, Mass., on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Transportation.
Projects awarded included two projects focused on Physical Intervention Systems for Wrong-way Drivers on Ramps awarded to RS Solutions in Scottsdale, Ariz., and to Traffic & Parking Control Co., Inc., in Brown Deer, Wis.; and two projects focusing on Geohazard Identification and Quantification for Pipeline Risk Models awarded to Applied Engineering Management Corporation and Paulsson, Inc., in Van Nuys, Calif.
The SBIR Programs incentivize small businesses to get into federal research/research and development to develop products that can be commercialized. The program awards contracts in two phases and recognizes a third phase that leads up to commercialization.
The awards announced were for Phase 1 contracts. No dollar amount for individual contracts was provided.