The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has opened the nomination portal for the 2026 America’s Transportation Awards competition.
[Above graphic by AASHTO]
This program – now in its 19th year – accepts nominations from state departments of transportation and seeks to highlight the important work they do every day to improve quality of life, spur economic development, utilize innovative new technologies/programs/processes, and make communities safer.
States can nominate up to four projects in the following categories: Operations Excellence, Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Safety, and Quality of Life/Community Development.
[Editor’s note: Learn more about the America’s Transportation Awards and the 2025 winners by clicking here.]
All nominated projects will first compete on a regional level against projects in their own category and of their own size: “small” (projects costing less than $10 million), “medium” (projects between $10 million and $100 million) or “large” (projects $100 million or more).
After all regional meetings have taken place over the summer, the three highest scoring winners from each region will be named the “Top 12” and will go on to compete for the top two national prizes.
An independent panel of industry judges selects the Grand Prize winner, while the project receiving the highest number of online votes from the public (weighted by state population) earns the People’s Choice Award.
AASHTO will reveal the winners of those top two prizes – which each receive $10,000 to donate to a charity or scholarship of their choice – at its 2026 annual meeting this November in Louisville, KY.
Visit AmericasTransportationAwards.org to learn more or nominate a project.
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