Help improve transportation in Fairfax County at this hackathon

Entrepreneurs, tech companies and students are being given a chance to offer up changes to a historically gridlocked region in Virginia at the Transportation & Mobility Hackathon.

The event, which takes place at Refraction in Reston, Va., on Nov. 16-17, is hosted by Fairfax County and the Virginia Department of Transportation, and will award $1,500-$3,000 for the best ideas. Fairfax County and VDOT are hoping that the event will provide some transportation solutions with innovative and new technologies.

Fairfax County is home to over 70 miles of smart roads, with sensors set up along Interstates 66, 495, 95 and Routes 29 and 50.

“It is one of the most heavily instrumented highways in the whole, entire world,” Reg Viray, a researcher with Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute, said in a report from Fairfax County.

The work from participants should be feasible, improve the mobility needs of disadvantaged populations and provide a rationale for why these approaches can work. The goals are to relieve traffic, improve safety, improve mobility and advance autonomous and connected vehicle technology.

The connected and automated vehicle industry is projected to reach $42 billion in 2025, and that a quarter of all automobiles on U.S. roadways will be self-driving by 2030, according to The Boston Consulting Group.

“The age of shared autonomous electric vehicles is upon us and now is the time for automakers, suppliers and cities to begin taking the bold steps necessary to thrive in this rapidly changing world,” Justin Rose of BCC said in a statement.

The event is sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, Refraction, George Mason University, Virginia Tech and 1776.