After months of intensive design, building, and testing, the three Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Accelerator sites in Arizona, Texas, and Utah have reached a defining moment. To unlock funding for the next phase of the $60-million federal program, they must demonstrate to USDOT that their life-saving technology is ready for prime time.

The critical moment is called an Operational Readiness Demonstration (ORD) – where each site must demonstrate that its V2X system performs safely, securely, and as designed. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) conducted their ORDs on July 14 and August 11-12, respectively, while the Maricopa County Department of Transportation's ORD is planned for later this year.

Both ORDs showcased granting preemption to emergency vehicles, red-light violation warnings and vulnerable road user safety, with the TTI ORD also showcasing curve speed warning and right turn on red, and the UDOT ORD also showcasing transit signal priority and Traveler Information Messages.

OEM vehicle participation in both ORDs demonstrated that V2X infrastructure can communicate with OEM-integrated vehicles and not just aftermarket onboard units, highlighting the potential of V2X technology to benefit everyday drivers.

During the TTI ORD, nature provided an unscripted stress test, with stormy weather threatening to interfere. During some of the heaviest downpours, drivers approaching the test intersection could barely discern the traffic signals. The V2X system, however, worked exactly as designed - communicating real-time signal status, warning of potential red-light violations, and detecting vulnerable road users. This was the V2X technology's moment. When human vision failed, V2X delivered critical, potentially life-saving information to drivers even in low visibility conditions – a powerful testament to V2X technology's role as an essential safety net under the most challenging environmental conditions.

When completed, all three sites' ORD reports and other relevant documents will be posted here.

The ITS Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program, in collaboration with the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), held the Finals of the 2026 Transportation Technology Tournament (TTT) at the ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Detroit, MI. Four student teams—from Iowa State University, the University of Texas at Arlington, and two teams from South Carolina State University—presented their concepts for leveraging Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Transportation Systems Management and Operations to address safety challenges. The finalists were chosen from among 15 teams that entered the tournament earlier this year. The team from Iowa State University won the Tournament for their project on a connected vehicle-based queue warning system that fuses real-time vehicle and sensor data to detect queue formation and warn approaching drivers, reducing secondary crashes on high-speed rural interstate highways. The TTT is an annual competition that provides an opportunity for students to showcase their technical and teamwork skills and prepare themselves for the workforce.

The Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (HIRTA) Health Connector successfully completed the 24-month Operate and Evaluate Phase under the ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) ITS4US Deployment Program on August 17th. What started as a vision to connect rural Iowans to healthcare has become reality—the HIRTA Health Connector Team (pictured above during their ribbon cutting ceremony in August 2024) is now bringing intelligent transportation solutions to those who need them most.

The HIRTA team has made the middleware software code developed under the Health Connector project available on the ITS JPO ITS CodeHub open-source software repository. Visit the link below to access the middleware software code.

The ITS JPO AI Program highlighted several of its products and resources across multiple sessions during the Rhode Island DOT (RIDOT) AI symposium and peer exchange, "Intelligent Mobility: Artificial Intelligence Meets Real Transportation", on August 19th and 20th, 2026. On August 19th, the team presented on "AI Rapid Prototypes: Predictive Analytics for Incident Management" during a session on AI for Proactive Road Safety, and on "AI Governance: Risk Management and Trustworthiness", during a session on Governance Frameworks for Successful AI Development and Deployment in Transportation. On August 20th, ITS JPO shared results from its Small Business Innovation Research initiative, AI for Transportation Planning and Design during a session on AI in Planning and Project Development. The JPO team highlighted the important role of organizational assessments for transportation agencies during its discussion of the USDOT AI in Transportation Capability Maturity Model at the "Getting Started: Building an AI Strategy" session.

The official Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Small-Scale Industry Prototype Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) has posted on SAM.gov. Up to $5M (across all awardees and phases) will be available to support CDA prototype development, testing, and deployment. The goal is to accelerate the development and testing of a cooperative driving automation prototype by utilizing connectivity and automation in an automotive OEM-supplied vehicle, testing the capability in partnership with a state or local agency. This opportunity is open to any U.S.-based eligible entity, regardless of prior participation, with proposals due by September 28, 2026. For more information, visit the link via the button below.

The ITS4US Deployment Accelerator BAA is coming soon! The Program will provide seed funding to up to four sites to rapidly replicate the ITS4US HIRTA's Health Connector project, which connects transportation to healthcare appointments.

Awardees will join a cohort of deployers receiving technical assistance and support to deploy solutions within their communities within 12 months. Proposed multi-disciplinary teams must include a mobility service operator or provider, a software integrator, and a public or private healthcare partner.

The Intersection Safety Systems Prototyping BAA closed on July 20, 2026 and received many proposals. Up to $17M (across all awardees and phases) is available to support ISS prototype development, testing, and deployment under real-world conditions. Proposals are currently under review.

The goal is to accelerate the development of full end-to-end prototype systems and their components, including sensor fusion, AI-based decision-making, and conflict mitigation.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly central to transportation, multimodal public sector agencies face unique and rapidly evolving challenges in technology acquisition. Attend this AI Procurement National Webinar on September 17, 2026, 1-4PM ET, to build a common understanding on issues, identify effective practices and approaches, and establish a shared language around AI procurement themes. This event is open to public sector leadership, management, and technical specialists across all types of multimodal agencies. To find additional AI procurement resources and to register now, visit the link by clicking the button below.