Bowser Administration Announces the Winners of GigabitDCx
Road Vision by George Washington University’s Transportation
Team Wins $25,000 in Start-up and Research Funds
Washington, DC – The Bowser Administration and Acting Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Lindsey Parker have announced George Washington University’s (GWU) Transportation Team winners of GigabitDCx, a public innovation competition that challenged the tech community to test inventive ideas to confront two of the toughest problem’s cities face today: traffic and a changing climate.
“GigabitDCx is a great example of how simply providing the space and opportunity to share ideas and creativity can lead to big improvements,” said Parker. “We are thrilled to have been able to partner with US Ignite to not only offer an innovation award, but also the opportunity to work with so many diverse, talented entrepreneurs on a common goal for the betterment of the District.”
GWU’s Transportation Team was selected as a winner for its innovative approach to analyzing video feeds from different sources into traffic mobility and safety information. Their solution,Road Vision, uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to translate video feeds into traffic mobility and safety information (traffic counts, speeds). This data will be utilized by transportation decision makers for congestion mitigation and safety planning.
“Data collection is often time consuming and expensive, but it’s critical in meeting Mayor Bowser’s goals for Vision Zero,” said District Department of Transportation Director Jeff Marootian. “Count technologies like Road Vision that include pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, and vehicles offer a unique chance to address these issues by allowing the public to contribute to data collection and sharing the results publicly.”
The crowdsourced data from Road Vision can supplement government data collection and the shared results provide transparency for the public and policymakers, as well as an incentive for the public to contribute. Lastly, the resulting data can be disseminated in real-time to roadway users, supplementing other traffic data sources, to help users make better route decisions.
GWU’s Transportation Team is led by Professor Samer H. Hamdar, Ph.D., and includes: Claire E. Silverstein Ph.D. Student Researcher, Deng Pan PhD Student/Graduate Fellow, and Amir Farrahi, PMP Part-Time PhD Student, all with the George Washington University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Mark Sussman and Daniel Shep of Washington, DC, received Honorable Mention with their How’s My Driving? application and will receive an award of $9,000.
The next public innovation challenge is scheduled to begin in the Spring, with a new focus area ofpublic health and public safety.Follow this and all upcoming challenges at: herox.com.
About GigabitDCx
Launched October 13, 2018, GigabitDCx attracted over 116 innovators and received 21 submissions. Teams competed to split up to $34,000 in award funds provided by US Ignite and DC’s participation in the Smart Gigabit Communities. The GWU Transportation Team will also have the opportunity to work with the District of Columbia Government to beta-test their solution.
About US Ignite
US Ignite, Inc. is a non‐profit organization accelerating the smart city movement by guiding communities into the connected future, creating a path for private sector growth, and advancing technology research that’s at the heart of smart city development. Learn more.
