DOT Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award
The Department of Transportation's (DOT) annual Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award (the award) is a component of DOT's Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking initiative that seeks to raise awareness among transportation stakeholders about human trafficking and increase training and prevention to combat the crime. The award serves as a platform for transportation stakeholders to creatively develop impactful and innovative countertrafficking tools, initiatives, campaigns, and technologies that can be shared with the broader community to help stop human trafficking. The award is open to individuals and entities, including non-governmental organizations, transportation industry associations, research institutions, and State and local government organizations. Entrants compete for a cash award of up to $50,000 to be awarded to the individual(s) or entity selected for creating the most impactful counter-trafficking initiative or technology.
Submissions will be accepted from January 6, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. PST/2:59 a.m. EST on March 7, 2025. See the Federal Register Notice for full details.
2024 Awardees
1st: TAT (formerly Truckers Against Trafficking)
For their “Youth on Transportation Initiative” proposal to develop community-wide training, host local stakeholder convenings, and produce youth-facing awareness materials aimed at preventing human trafficking of youth at the intersection of public transit and school transportation.
2nd Place: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
For their “Project S.O.A.R.” proposal to enhance training, develop a multimodal, comprehensive awareness campaign for frontline airport, transit, bus, and car rental employees to prevent, identify, and report human trafficking, and expand community-based partnerships to make the appropriate referrals when suspected instances of the crime are identified.
3rd Place: The Oklahoma Transit Association
For expanding their “Rolling Oklahoma Classroom” to provide regional access to transit workers in rural and tribal communities in eight states across the Midwest and Southwest regions through their mobile human trafficking awareness classroom in eight surrounding states to raise awareness for rural and tribal communities.
2023 Awardees
1st: Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking and the American Association of Port Authorities
For their “Awareness Campaign to Help Prevent Human Trafficking in the Maritime Industry” proposal to conduct the first national, multilingual counter-trafficking public awareness campaign for port authorities to raise awareness among port employees and seafarers.
2nd: Houston Airports
For its “Together We Will #EndHumanTrafficking” proposal to build on its comprehensive counter-trafficking approach by expanding community awareness ahead of major travel periods and holidays, expanding employee training to comprise human trafficking survivor voices, and providing financial support to local advocacy groups.
3rd: Two Bowling Green State University Faculty members
For their “Higher Education on the Awareness Highway to End Human Trafficking” proposal to develop a counter-trafficking awareness toolkit as a resource guide for college and university faculty to create survivor-informed and evidence-based community impact projects for their students at transportation sites including transit, airports, trains, and highway rest areas.
2022 Awardees
1st: Port of Seattle
For its Airports United Against Human Trafficking proposal to convene a national steering committee of up to 20 diverse airports and scale the Port’s comprehensive counter-trafficking approach into an awareness toolkit for use by airports nationwide.
2nd: Trinity Metro
For its Stop Human Trafficking Campaign proposal to implement counter-trafficking training for Dallas Fort Worth area transit workers and first responders, raise awareness among the traveling public, and train over 40 local governments in the region.
3rd: Colorado Human Trafficking Council
For its This is Human Trafficking proposal to conduct a state-wide campaign to raise awareness through gas stations and convenience stores that serve the trucking industry and general public along the main arteries of I-70 and I-25.
2021 Awardees
1st: The A21 Campaign
For its Can You See Me? Roadside Billboard Initiative proposal to expand its public awareness campaign of 1,000 counter-trafficking billboards in 46 cities across the U.S.
2nd: U.S. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
For its Combating Silence: Increasing Awareness to Louisiana Human Trafficking proposal to reach up to 5.3 million road users.
3rd: Busing on the Lookout (a program of Truckers Against Trafficking)
For its Capturing Innovation to Build Public Transit’s Capacity to Combat Human Trafficking proposal to engage up to 72 transit agencies to increase human trafficking training, partnerships, awareness, and reporting among transit agencies throughout the country.
2020 Awardees
1st: United Against Slavery
For its National Outreach Survey for Transportation Sectors proposal to conduct a survey of transportation stakeholders, human trafficking survivors, and providers across all modes of transportation.
2nd: Busing on the Lookout (a program of Truckers Against Trafficking)
For its Creating Local Partnerships to End Human Trafficking: Bus & Casino Coalition Builds proposal to target human trafficking loopholes that exist between buses and casinos.
3rd: ArtWorks for Freedom
For its Airports to Freedom proposal to install a multimedia counter-trafficking educational kiosk in up to nine airports to educate and engage the aviation industry and traveling public.