Nominations for the 2021 America’s Transportation Awards are Now Being Accepted

From now until April 23, states can nominate up to three projects for the 2021 America’s Transportation Awards. Now in its 14th year, this program helps showcase why transportation infrastructure – and why properly funding it – is vital to supporting the nation’s economy while improving the quality of life for communities across the country.

Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the competition serves as a way to recognize state departments of transportation and highlights the projects they deliver that make their communities a better place to live, work, and play.

Projects can be nominated in the following categories: Operations Excellence, Best Use of Technology & Innovation, and Quality of Life/Community Development.

All nominated projects will first compete on a regional level against projects of their own size: “Small” (projects costing less than $25 million), “Medium” (projects between $25 million and $199 million) or “Large” (projects $200 million or more).

Projects first compete for regionally in the four association regions – NASTO, MAASTO, WASHTO, and SASHTO – with those winners being announced this summer. After all regional meetings have taken place over the summer, the three highest scoring projects from each region will be named the “Top 12” and will go on to compete for the top two national prizes. The Grand Prize is selected by a panel of judges, and the People’s Choice Award is decided by online popular vote. Winners of those top two prizes will each receive $10,000 to donate to a charity or scholarship of their choice. The overall winners will be announced at the 2021 AASHTO Annual Meeting.

Submit your nominations now. You can also register for an upcoming webinar that will walk attendees through what makes a successful nomination. That webinar takes place on Wednesday, March 17 at 2 p.m. ET.

The competition is only open to state DOTs. Should you have any questions, please reach out to AASHTO’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Maggie Kasperski at mkasperski@aashto.org or (202)-624-3659; or AASHTO’s Digital Marketing Specialist, Kaitlyn Meuser at kmeuser@aashto.org or (202)-624-5470.