PennDOT Names Winners of 2025 Innovation Challenge

May 23, 2025

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recently noted that a student team from Monroe Career and Technical Institute in Bartonsville, PA, took home top honors in the agency’s 2025 Innovations Challenge.

[Above photo by PennDOT]

For the 2025 challenge, students were asked to develop a cost-effective, innovative solution to help PennDOT more effectively increase awareness of seat belt usage and change driver behavior to improve roadway safety.

The winning team’s proposed solution was “Love. Life. Click.,” a strategic initiative that leveraged a variety of outreach tactics – such as social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and mobile applications – to engage a “tech-savvy” audience and spread key safety messages.

Mike Carroll. Photo by AASHTO.

By incorporating interactive elements and offering incentives, the campaign encourages consistent seat belt use, aimed at changing driving behavior and promoting safer roadways for all.

“This year, the Innovations Challenge wasn’t a new problem. It was one of the oldest issues in transportation,” noted PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll in a statement.

“I am astounded by the level of thought and attention given to seat belt awareness by forward-thinking students from around the state,” he said. “I look forward to seatbelt compliance becoming a concern of the past as leaders like these take to the roads.”  

The agency noted that 10 regional winners were selected earlier this year and invited to present their solutions to the PennDOT secretary and a panel of judges in Harrisburg, PA, to determine the contest’s overall winner.

For the 2025 challenge, the following organizations provided a combined total of $6,000 to the winning team:

  • The Transportation Policy and Education Foundation, an educational arm of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors;
  • The American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania;
  • The Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers; and
  • The Intelligent Transportation Society of Pennsylvania.
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