In the latest post in his Telling The Story blog, ITS JPO director Brian Cronin gives his review of last week’s (January 5-9) TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. We reproduce the post below. You can also hear form Cronin in the latest edition of the Transportation Podcast from Traffic Technology International
Despite a formidable winter storm, the 104th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting forged ahead Sunday, January 5, through Thursday, January 9, in Washington, DC, giving the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) an opportunity to exchange ideas with transportation professionals from across the globe.
When the weather delayed my arrival at the conference, Norah Ocel, the ITS JPO Program Manager for ITS Safety and Stakeholder Engagement, took my place and gave a Monday presentation on advances in AI, the Intersection Safety Challenge, and the Complete Streets AI Challenge.
Later that day, Valerie Briggs, Director of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Transportation Management, delivered the State of ITS address on my behalf. (Many thanks to Norah and Valerie for their outstanding presentations. Both sessions were filled to the point of standing room only!)
Many other ITS JPO staff and affiliates were active at the conference. Robert Sheehan (Program Manager, Architecture and Standards) and Elina Zlotchenko (Program Manager, ITS4US) spoke in a session on U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) transportation accessibility initiatives. Robert Sheehan, Amber Reimnitz (Program Manager, ITS Multimodal Digital Infrastructure), and I engaged in a workshop on the National Strategy for Roadway Digital Infrastructure. Ed Fok (FHWA Transportation Technology Specialist), Hyungjun Park (Program Manager, Automation), Marcia Pincus (Program Manager, ITS Deployment Evaluation), and Robert Sheehan all participated in stakeholder meetings on specific topics. In the spirit of international collaboration, Hyungjun Park met with delegations of transportation officials and technical experts from Japan and South Korea.
Also at TRB, on Tuesday, the USDOT announced the winners of the Intersection Safety Challenge Stage 1B: System Assessment and Virtual Testing Primary Track, which awarded $4 million among 10 prizewinning teams. The purpose of the multistage competition is to encourage teams of innovators and end-users to develop, prototype, and test intersection safety systems that leverage emerging technologies (including AI and machine learning) to identify and mitigate unsafe conditions involving vehicles and vulnerable road users at roadway intersections. See the Intersection Safety Challenge website for more information on the winning teams and their technical approaches.
Alongside these high-profile meetings and announcements, the ITS JPO maintained an active presence in the TRB exhibit hall. The ITS JPO booth was open Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, providing information on ITS JPO programs and activities to hundreds of conference attendees.
The past year in the world of ITS has been an eventful one. With the release of the National V2X Deployment Plan in August, the U.S. DOT began to galvanize a coordinated effort to deploy vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies based on their lifesaving benefits. The U.S. DOT awarded 16 V2X-related grants to transportation agencies across the nation in 2024, including seven ATTAIN grants, six SMART grants, and three V2X Accelerator grants. Meanwhile, the continued implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has created new opportunities for investment.
These and many other recent developments – from last October’s successful V2X interoperability testing in Wyoming to the rapid growth of the Accelerating V2X Cohort – point to the growing momentum behind V2X technology. It is my hope that the new year will bring even more opportunities to advance innovation through collaboration.
Brian Cronin, Director, ITS JPO
