Uniontown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that a team of students from the Ligonier Valley School District in Westmoreland County was selected as the PennDOT Innovations Challenge winner in the District 12, southwestern county region.
The PennDOT Innovations Challenge – now in its ninth year – is a statewide competition for high school students to develop creative and strategic solutions to real-world transportation challenges. The challenge reflects the Shapiro Administration’s focus on a safe, efficient transportation system and growing Pennsylvania’s workforce by introducing students to current transportation challenges and encouraging them to explore careers in transportation after high school.
Mentored by Brian Blasko, team members include Callen McPherson and Matt Sutton.
With the unique challenge of keeping work crews protected and the travelling public safe in work zones, this year’s challenge asked students to develop a concept for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in work zones to dramatically improve safety for work crews and road users.
“Our number one priority is safety for the traveling public and our employees,” said PennDOT District 12 Executive Rachel Duda. “Cutting edge technologies like AI present us with the opportunity to improve work zone safety and make sure everyone gets home safe. The creativity and ingenuity of the students has been great to see and it’s something that our future transportation planners must have.”
The winning regional team’s innovation was “Work Zone Guard AI”, a piece of equipment that is designed to improve safety by detecting and responding to at risk driver behavior before a crash occurs. The system is intended to reduce work zone dangers by identifying risky driving behavior and providing early warnings in construction zones.
Regional Innovations Challenge winners will be invited to Harrisburg to present their solutions to the PennDOT Executive Deputy Secretary and a panel of judges in April, when the statewide winner will be determined.
For this year’s challenge, the Transportation Policy and Education Foundation, an educational arm of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors organization, the American Council of Engineering Companies of PA, the Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Intelligent Transportation Society of Pennsylvania are providing a combined total award of $6,000 to the statewide winning team.
For complete Innovations Challenge details, visit the PennDOT website.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices by calling 5-1-1 or following regional X alerts.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District12.
Information about infrastructure in District 12, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D12Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew Stacy, anstacy@pa.gov or 724-415-3748
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