This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced over $130 million in grant awards for 42 technology demonstration projects through the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program.
The grant program, established by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), provides $500 million over five years for state, local and tribal governments to leverage technology to create safer, more efficient, and more innovative transportation systems.
With these latest two rounds of funding, the SMART Grants Program has awarded nearly $280 million across 45 states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke to how the funds will be used.
“The awards we’re announcing today will put funding in the hands of state, local, and Tribal governments to support their key priorities, which range from the delivery of medical supplies in rural areas to ensuring transportation system resilience in the face of natural disasters.”
The SMART Grants Program is a two-stage program: stage one planning and prototyping grants, and stage two implementation grants. This is the third year of SMART Grants Stage One awards, for which USDOT received 308 eligible grant applications for this most recent round of funding. This round of projects includes the first stage two deployment awards in eight states and 34 new Stage One prototyping projects in 21 states. The Department received 28 applications for Stage Two from eligible Stage One recipients.
“The high demand for the SMART Grants Program over all three years demonstrates the need for purpose-driven technology solutions undertaken by State, local, and Tribal agencies,” said Dr. Robert C. Hampshire, principal deputy assistant secretary for research and technology and chief science officer at USDOT. “This first round of Stage Two awards will implement these solutions at scale, building on successes demonstrated in their first stage.”
The full list of awards can be viewed on USDOT’s website.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Broadbandusa.gov
