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SMART Summit 2024

USDOT Holds Second SMART Grantee Summit 

On July 10th and 11th, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) held its second SMART Grantee Summit for the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants program. The Summit was held at the Volpe Center in Cambridge, MA with over 220 participants in attendance, including USDOT leadership and 83 SMART grant recipients from 39 states.

All grant recipients selected from the Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 Stage 1 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) were invited to participate in the 2-day event. Awardees from over 83 project teams attended, representing most of the  $148 million in grant awards. Project teams included representatives from the lead applicants as well as their project partners.  

To learn more about the grant recipients, visit the SMART Grants Program Awarded Projects webpages.  

You can view the full Summit agenda here. 

Presented materials from the Summit can be found here, and the full report with summarized takeaways from each session can be found here. 

A woman in a suit stands at a podium in front of a large audience in buisness attire.
All photos courtesy of US DOT

Panel Sessions 

The Summit began with opening remarks from Dr. Robert Hampshire, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, and later featured a panel covering Delivering Technology Projects: Lessons from the Field. Panelists highlighted the current disruption that technology and funding opportunities have created, reminding awardees that failure is often a necessary part of this experimentation process. Many panelists also emphasized that successful technologies understand and meet the needs of end users; getting to that point requires intentional engagement with all members of the community. After the panel, Kim Higgins (USDOT Volpe), provided a session on the technical assistance offered by USDOT. 

A man in a suit with a red tie speaks at a podium with the seal of the Department of Transportation on it
Dr. Robert Hampshire, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, US DOT, delivered the opening remarks of the Summit. 

 

Three people in business attire sit on stools on a stage
The opening panel featured a discussion on delivering technology projects in the local context, with federal resources. Left to Right: Ben Levine, USDOT OST-R; Luisa Paiewonsky, USDOT Volpe Center, Nigel Jacob, Cofounder, Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics

 

An audience in business attire is seated in front of a stage. A person is asking a question from the aisle.
Summit attendees engaged in likely question-and-answer sessions with all speakers. 

 

2022 and 2023 Cohort Sessions 

Attendees then spent the second half of the day participating in sessions based on their cohort. Those awarded SMART grants in FY 2022 learned about topics ranging from cybersecurity to data sharing with USDOT, workforce impact planning, and preparing for Stage 2 grant applications. The FY 2023 awardees learned about reporting, grant management requirements, and data management planning and sharing. Both cohorts attended a thorough presentation on procurement, providing essential guidance for attendees as they continue or begin their journey with the SMART program. 

Office Hours 

Throughout the summit, subject matter experts across USDOT held office hours to meet directly with attendees. Presenters, officials from the Office of the Secretary, technical experts, and public servants from the various modes set up shop in the conference center hallway to answer questions and share helpful insights with summit attendees. 

Several people stand around a table and speak with a person seated there.

Breakout Sessions 

Day 2 began with smaller breakout sessions. During these sessions, SMART grantees were grouped by their respective project types, learning from other teams and their experiences around the country. For example, facilitators led the groups through knowledge-sharing exercises, during which project teams discussed current challenges and opportunities in their Stage 1 projects, such as collaborating with community partners or setting quantitative milestones. Subject matter experts across USDOT Operating Administrations participated in these discussions, providing their support and expertise. In many of the breakout sessions, attendees indicated they would continue these conversations to take advantage of the connections they made with peers during the Summit and build upon the lessons learned. 

 

General Session 

The second day concluded with one session covering federal requirements surrounding Buy America, Build America Act (BABA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), and another session on planning and executing accessible transportation systems. The BABA and NEPA session covered the Buy America statutes applying to federal financial assistance recipients, waivers, and specifics about construction materials and infrastructure projects. The accessible transportation systems session shared examples of how communities nationwide use technology to boost accessibility and then discussed how planners can incorporate accessibility into SMART projects. Examples included medical drone delivery, QR code-based wayfinding, and increasing rural agency data visibility.  

Three people area seated on a stage with a podium with the seal of the Department of Transportation in front of them
Experts presented on the Buy America, Build America Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. Left to Right: Darren Timothy, US DOT  Office of the Chief Economist; Theresa Claxton and John Foley, FHWA Office of Project Development and Environmental Review.

 

A speaker in a light blue suit stands in front of a stage and podium, holding a microphone
Lindsey Teel, US DOT, OST-R, spoke with attendees on designing and implementing accessible transportation systems. 

 

Key Takeaways 

Throughout the Summit, several key takeaways emerged. Note that this list is not exhaustive: 

  • Project teams considered improving knowledge sharing between and within cohorts, such as creating a procurement process matrix to increase transparency.  

  • Attendees learned about FAIR principles of data governance: data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Breakout groups also covered the importance of data quantity, quality, standardization, and sufficient digitization of existing practices.  

  • Attendees expressed the importance of creating clear and detailed evaluation tools and identifying the evaluation metrics early on.  

Outcomes and Next Steps 

Fiscal Year 2022 Stage 1 grantees were the first group eligible to apply for a competitive Stage 2 grant, the NOFO which closed on August 14th, 2024. Stage 2 of the program will provide funding for projects designed to produce a scaled-up demonstration of the Stage 1 concept.  

USDOT anticipates hosting an annual SMART Summit. 

A large group of people gather and eat lunch around a staircase

A man stands on stage speaking in to a microphone

A group of people mill around a registration table and wall that reads 'conference'

Last updated: Wednesday, September 4, 2024