AASHTO Journal - USDOT Issues $130M Worth of SMART Program Grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded more than $130 million to 42 technology demonstration projects through its Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation or “SMART” grants program.

The SMART program, established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, provides $500 million over five years to state, local, and tribal governments to leverage technology to create safer, more efficient, and more innovative transportation systems.

[Above photo by USDOT]

The USDOT noted in a statement that it is a “two-stage” program as well, with the first stage comprised of “Planning and Prototyping” grants and the second stage comprised of “Implementation” grants.

This round of SMART grant funding includes “Stage Two” deployment awards in eight states and 34 new “Stage One” prototyping projects in 21 states, the agency noted.

Several state departments of transportation projects received funds from this latest round of SMART grants. Those projects include:

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities received two SMART grants. The first, for more than $12 million, supports the use of drone technology for infrastructure inspections and the gathering of situational awareness data regarding rural weather conditions. The second, for more than $1.1 million, supports the agency’s Avalanche Mitigation Alert Detection or “AMAD” project, which uses Remote Avalanche Control Systems (RACS) and Advanced Forecasting Technology (AFT) to address significant avalanche risks on the Seward Highway corridor.
The California Department of Transportation received two SMART grants; the first for $2 million to fund the use of “Skate” open-source bus operations software to address challenges in managing all-electric bus operations and the second for more than $430,000 to support the use of drones for construction site condition inspections.
The Nevada Department of Transportation received a more than $1.9 million grant to fund the use of automation/artificial intelligence, digitalization, connectivity, data standardization, and systems engineering to develop the requirements of a data exchange that can ultimately be used along I-80 and I-35.
The Utah Department of Transportation received nearly $3 million to help develop Connected Intersection Corridor prototype as part of nationwide effort to deploy “vehicles-to-everything” or V2X systems network.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation received a $2 million grant to streamline data collection and management for highway work zones.
The South Dakota Department of Transportation received a nearly $2 million grant to deploy advanced traffic management system technology statewide.
The Illinois Department of Transportation received a nearly $500,000 grant to develop a framework for the advancement of Work Zone Data Exchange-compliant systems statewide.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation received a $250,000 grant to expand the use of Work Zone Data Exchange technology to local roads in Madison.
The Michigan Department of Transportation received more than $1.3 million to leverage open standard data to make real-time public transit information accessible in rural parts of the state.
The Indiana Department of Transportation received a $2 million grant to deploy small, unmanned aircraft systems, sensors, data sharing and collaboration software to help deliver a National Defense Authorization Act compliant aerial survey program.
The Texas Department of Transportation received a $1.9 million grant to install smart intersection technology featuring visual and auditory devices in College Station.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation received a $1.1 million grant to create a drone disaster response and emergency supplies delivery network.
The West Virginia Department of Transportation received $812,000 to deploy a “structural health monitoring tool” for aging infrastructure in Charleston.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation received a $1.1 million grant to use drone technology for “environmental sensing” operations in Cape Cod.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation received a $2 million grant to develop a statewide multimodal public transit fare payment application.

With this latest round of disbursements, the USDOT said it has awarded nearly $280 million worth of SMART grants across 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C.

In March, the USDOT issued $50 million in SMART program grants to 34 technology demonstration projects across the country, several of which are helmed by state departments of transportation.

State DOT projects that received SMART grants in March are:

The Colorado Department of Transportation received more than $1.4 million for its Coordinated Adaptive Ramp Metering or CARM Expansion Project, which uses sensor-based ramp metering technologies to manage highway access at four locations statewide.
The Maryland Transit Administration – a division of the Maryland Department of Transportation – received more than $1.2 million to help install a cloud-based transit signal priority system at 90 intersections on four high-frequency bus lines.
The Maryland State Highway Administration – also a Maryland DOT division – received more than $1.6 million to help fund a work zone speed management system, with aerial drones collecting vehicle speed in and around roadway work zones in real-time.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation received more than $1.7 million for a “vehicle-to-everything” or V2X data exchange to provide roadway curve speed warnings via cellular network to motorists.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation received $1.5 million for a roadway work zone modernization project that focuses on the work zone data environment; aiming to streamline and speed up work zone data collection and management.