USDOT announces new winners of its Intersection Safety Challenge

The USDOT has announced the winners of the its Intersection Safety Challenge Stage 1B: System Assessment and Virtual Testing Primary Track, awarding $4 million among 10 prize-winning teams.

The winning organisations are, in Tier 1, who each receive $750,000 – Derq; University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Mobility Lab; University of Hawaii; University of Michigan.

Tier 2 winners, who each get $166,666, are: Florida A&M University (FAMU) and Florida State University (FSU); Miovision (Global Traffic Technologies); Ohio State University; Orion Robotics Labs; University of California, Riverside; University of Washington.

The purpose of the Intersection Safety Challenge, a multi-stage prize competition, is to encourage teams of innovators and end-users to develop, prototype and test intersection safety systems (ISS) that leverage emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to identify and mitigate unsafe conditions involving vehicles and vulnerable road users at roadway intersections.

The Challenge draws on the expertise of researchers and practitioners from across the United States, including universities, State and local agencies, private sector developers, and other organizations.

In the first prize competition stage of the Challenge, completed in January 2024 (Stage 1A: Concept Assessment), US DOT awarded 15 winning Stage 1A teams prizes of $100,000 each and an invitation to participate in Stage 1B Primary Track.

In Stage 1B, teams tackled a series of technical challenges – including sensor fusion, classification, path and conflict prediction – utilizing USDOT-provided real world sensor data collected on a closed course at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC).

Improving the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users is of critical importance to achieving the USDOT’s vision of zero roadway deaths and serious injuries. The Intersection Safety Challenge supports these departmental priorities, aligns with the USDOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), and aims to set the stage for the future deployment of roadway intersection safety systems nationwide.

The latest winners were announced at the 2025 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, last week (January 5-9).

Given the overwhelming interest in Stage 1B, USDOT is exploring ways to engage all interested parties in future stages of the Intersection Safety Challenge.