The U.S. Department of Transportation announced it has opened a new opportunity for American small businesses to leverage advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve transportation.

The Complete Streets AI Initiative is being offered through the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. It is a multi-phase effort to develop new decision-support tools for state, local, and tribal transportation agencies that assist in the siting, design, and deployment of Complete Streets, which are streets and networks that prioritize safety, comfort, and connectivity to destinations for all people who use them. 

The program supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to responsible deployment of artificial intelligence technologies, as outlined in the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.   

“Innovation in the AI and transportation sector is happening at unprecedented speed and has the potential to address some of our most pressing transportation challenges," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding supports our country’s small businesses and startups to harness cutting-edge technologies, deploy them in local communities, and make our streets safer.”  

Initially, up to 10 Phase I contracts will be awarded to small businesses to develop data and analytics capabilities that drive insights for agencies developing complete streets. 

“Complete streets are easier to plan with more complete data. This is a bold effort to build out that data along with the technology platforms that make it easy to use,” said Chief Science Officer Dr. Robert C. Hampshire.