MANCHESTER, N.H. — Eight projects from state departments of transportation in Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey won top prizes in the regional 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition. These projects from the Northeast region were recognized for their positive impact on communities, ranging from employing new safety measures to save lives to investing in customer-focused transit.
Selected from 22 projects nominated by seven state DOTs in the Northeastern Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) region, they are among 106 nominations submitted by 39 state DOTs as part of the annual America’s Transportation Awards contest. Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America’s Transportation Awards competition highlights state DOT projects and their impact on the communities in which they reside.
Projects are nominated in four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Operations Excellence; Best Use of Technology & Innovation; and Safety. They highlight transportation’s crucial role for every person in every community, regardless of their mode of travel. In response to the increasing number of fatalities on U.S. roadways in recent years, 2024 marks the inaugural year of the Safety category, celebrating projects that effectively addressed safety challenges.
“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. “Our new safety category, implemented as part of AASHTO President Craig Thompson’s emphasis areas, allows us one more avenue to learn from each other on ways to drive down fatalities and serious crashes across the country. These winning NASTO region projects showcase the very best solutions to transportation challenges, whether they be finding ways to improve transit service for communities, restoring traffic after emergencies, or implementing engineering changes in neighborhoods to make all road users safer.”