USDOT has launched the Solving for Safety Visualization Challenge! 

USDOT is inviting innovative minds to bring novel concepts and perspectives to develop analytical visualization tools that can provide life-saving insights and solutions for transportation safety.

Individuals and teams are competing for $350,000 in cash prizes by developing innovative analytical visualization tools to enable insights, inform decisions, and reduce fatalities and serious injuries on U.S. road and rail systems. 

Additional details about the challenge, application, and upcoming webinars are available at: https://www.transportation.gov/solve4safety.

On May 17, 2018, volunteers from ITS Arizona participated in a service event with Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) in Mesa, Arizona. FMSC is a non-profit organization that works to feed malnourished children in over 70 countries around the world. During our volunteering session, we hand-packed meals which consisted of rice, soy, vitamins, and dehydrated vegetables. These pouches of dry food were shipped to feed children in the Philippines. In a matter of only two hours, our session group was able to pack 31,752 meals, which will feed 86 children for an entire year!! In addition, ITS Arizona donated $500 to support the cost of future meal supplies. We are thankful to have this opportunity to volunteer together and make a meaningful contribution to others.

ITS Arizona is planning other service events to be held in the future, stay tuned for more information!

As part of FHWA’s National Dialogue for Highway Automation workshop series, National Workshop 4, which will focus on Operations, will be held October 24-25, 2018 in conjunction with the National Rural ITS and ITS Arizona Annual Conference + Exhibit.

The workshop is free for all attendees, but registration will be required.

The FHWA National Dialogue on Highway Automation Launch Webinar was held on May 8, 2018 and the webinar recording is now available on FHWA’s website. 

Click here for more information regarding the workshop series.

Gregory Winfree, J.D. and Larry Head, Ph.D. recently co-authored an article in The Hill describing the benefits of  DSRC technology application over 5G.  According to the authors, a recommendation to supplant DSRC with 5G has nothing to do with the underlying technology and everything to do with the inevitable delay — and continued loss of life on our roadways — as 5G technology is readied for widespread implementation. .

The safety messages enabled by DSRC can help to prevent up to 80 percent of the roadway crashes that don’t involve impaired drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 37,461 lives were lost on U.S. roads in 2016. The sooner that DSRC is implemented, the sooner we can begin to prevent up to 20,000 roadway deaths a year, along with their immense emotional toll and the $800 billion yearly cost of U.S. car crashes.

The entire article can be found here

Waymo’s early rider program launched in Chandler last April and has been shuttling over 400 riders all around the Phoenix area over the past year.

According to the article on Medium.com, Waymo’s current U.S. fleet of cars log more than 24,000 miles per day, an equivalent of an around the world road trip! The article shares the riders experience, what Waymo has learned and what’s next.

Waymo’s program continues to take applications, so feel free to apply!

Read the entire article here..