The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has announced the Top 12 finalists for the 2024 America’s Transportation Awards. Following four regional competitions held over the summer, state departments of transportation from California, Arizona, Washington State, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio emerged with the highest scores. These finalists were chosen from a pool of 106 nominations submitted by 39 state DOTs. They will now compete for the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award. Each award comes with a $10,000 cash prize that can be donated to a charity or used for a transportation-related scholarship.
“These 12 projects serve as the best of the best transportation projects completed by state DOTs across the country, but they are only a fraction of the incredible work states are doing to better their communities,” stated AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon. “State DOTs today are focused on a wide range of work including projects that enhance every mode of transportation and increase safety, equity and quality of life. This list of Top 12 contenders serves as a great example of just how diverse these state DOT projects are.”
Sponsored by AASHTO in partnership with AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, America’s Transportation Awards acknowledges state DOT projects’ positive impacts on communities nationwide. Projects fall into four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Operations Excellence; Best Use of Technology & Innovation; and Safety. These awards underscore transportation’s critical role in community development and traveler safety. In light of rising roadway fatalities, AASHTO introduced a Safety category for this year’s contest to spotlight initiatives addressing safety issues effectively.
The Grand Prize winner will be selected by an independent panel comprising transportation experts while public online voting will determine the People’s Choice Award winner—votes will be weighted based on state population size. Winners will be announced at AASHTO’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this October. Online voting is open at americastransportationawards.org until Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 11:59 p.m. ET with one vote allowed per person per day per project.
For more information about this year’s top nominees visit https://americastransportationawards.org/.
