The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded $2.4 million in contracts to 12 small businesses nationwide through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The program, administered by the Volpe Center, invests in transportation that improves the safety, sustainability, and resilience of transportation assets. It also provides opportunities for small businesses to explore innovative technologies.
The program funds the Complete Streets AI (artificial intelligence) Initiative, a multi-phase effort to develop decision support tools for transportation agencies that assist in the siting, design, and deployment of Complete Streets. Complete Streets are streets and networks that prioritize safety, comfort, and connectivity.
“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,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “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.”
This is round one of funding. Each awardee received $200,000.
Traditional transportation data is often incomplete or unavailable. The projects will demonstrate the potential of AI-based data generation and processing methods to produce useful content.