The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded a contract to develop an app to improve the safety of pedestrians at street crossings, a posting by the U.S. Department of Transportation said Friday.
Reports and fatalities show that pedestrians and drivers have grown more distracted on the roads by using hand-held technology devices making safely crossing a street more challenging.
To solve this problem, Savari, Inc. was awarded a contract to create a traffic signal interface app, called SmartCross, to be available on smartphones. With this new app, smartphones can shift from a safety hazard to a safety asset.
The app can alert smartphone users when it is unsafe or safe to cross streets. The app can also inform drivers when pedestrians are crossing the road.
The FHWA used the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the U.S. Department of Transportation to award the contract.
“Every year, we announce new SBIR topics for technological innovation using the highest level of expertise in the small business community throughout the United States,” a recent report from the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and Volpe National Transportation Systems Center said. “SBIR awards support projects like the SmartCross app.”
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