Ten projects from state departments of transportation in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia have been recognized with top prizes in the regional 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition. These projects were acknowledged for their significant impact on communities by enhancing connectivity and mobility for bicyclists and pedestrians and improving safety through innovative technology.
The projects were selected from 25 nominations submitted by eight state DOTs in the Southeastern (SASHTO) region. They are part of a larger pool of 106 nominations from 39 state DOTs participating in the annual America’s Transportation Awards contest. The competition is sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It aims to highlight how state DOT projects contribute to strengthening local communities.
Projects are nominated in four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Operations Excellence; Best Use of Technology & Innovation; and Safety. This year marks the introduction of the Safety category, which focuses on projects that address safety challenges amid rising fatalities on U.S. roadways.
“The America’s Transportation Awards competition highlights the critical role state DOTs play in improving safety, enhancing mobility, and improving quality of life for their communities,” said AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon. “This year, AASHTO introduced a new safety category aligned with President Craig Thompson’s emphasis areas, providing a platform to share strategies for reducing fatalities and serious crashes nationwide. The winners here in the SASHTO region exemplify excellence in transportation, covering everything from prioritizing infrastructure for active transportation users to increasing safety for drivers and passengers by stabilizing towering rock cliffs over busy highways.”
Nominated projects compete at the regional level against others of similar size: "Small" (projects costing up to $10 million), "Medium" (projects costing between $10 million and $100 million), and "Large" (projects costing more than $100 million).
Following regional competitions, the “Top 12” nationwide finalists will be announced in early September. These finalists will include three highest-scoring projects from each region competing for two national prizes in 2024.
The Grand Prize will be determined by an independent panel of judges, while the People’s Choice Award will go to the project receiving most online votes from the public, adjusted by state population size. Winners will be announced at AASHTO's annual meeting in October 2024 in Philadelphia. Each winner will receive $10,000 for a charity or transportation-related scholarship they choose.
For more information about this year’s SASHTO nominees, visit https://americastransportationawards.org/.