Department: County Engineer
Department Head/Elected Official: Milton Rahman, PhD, P.E., PMP, CFM, County Engineer
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Grant
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request by the Office of the County Engineer for approval to submit an application to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for grant funds in the amount of $2,000,000, with no required local match, for the FY 2024 Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Camera Systems for Vision Zero Improvement Project in Precinct 2.
end
Background and Discussion:
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) established the SMART Grants Program with $500,000,000 in
advanced appropriations, including $100,000,000 for FY 2024. This Notice makes available up to
approximately $50,000,000 for FY 2024 Stage 1 grants under the SMART Grants Program. This Notice is
expected to be the final Stage 1 NOFO under the current authorized funding for the SMART Grants
Program. The USDOT anticipates up to approximately $50,000,000 will be awarded for Stage 2 projects in a
future Notice of Funding Opportunity to be issued later in calendar year 2024.
The USDOT anticipates to award approximately 30 Stage 1 grants of up to $2,000,000 per award. The minimum award size is $250,000. The Department reserves the right to make more, or
fewer, awards. The USDOT also reserves the discretion to alter minimum and maximum award sizes upon
receiving the full pool of applications and assessing the needs of the program in relation to the priorities. Moreover, USDOT reserves the right not to award the full funding amount requested by an applicant.
Harris County Precinct 2 proposes a SMART pilot project, (AI Camera Systems for Vision Zero Improvements (AI4VZ) that seeks to operationalize the implementation of a system that encompasses elements of the four Vision Zero goals. One of those goals of interest is goal number four, which is to improve data collection and evaluation, which includes ways to collect and analyze data at safety concern sites (such as intersections). The proposed technology to enhance data collection and evaluation is a system that uses “near-misses” among other factors at intersections to predict and prevent crashes. This system uses AI and road safety models to identify severe crash risks and accident spots.
Expected Impact:
The submission of this FY24 - SMART application for the AI4VZ project will enable Harris County to secure $2,000,000 in federal grant funding, with no required local match. This funding will be used to help increase the safety of Harris County drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists while also meeting Vision Zero and SMART program goals.
Alternative Options:
If the County does not apply for the FY24 - SMART application for the AI Camera Systems for Vision Zero Improvements (AI4VZ), the project may have to be implemented using full local funding.
Alignment with Goal(s):
X Justice and Safety
X Economic Opportunity
_ Housing
_ Public Health
X Transportation
_ Flooding
X Environment
_ Governance and Customer Service
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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N/A |
N/A |
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Location:
Address (if applicable): 10 to 22 sites located explicitly in Precinct 2’s unincorporated, disadvantaged areas on the High Injury Network (HIN).
Precinct(s): Precinct 2
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) / Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
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Funding Sources |
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|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item., P2- |
$ |
$ |
$0 |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Current Budget |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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Grant |
$ |
$2,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Funding Request |
$ |
$2,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
$ |
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
|
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Anticipated Court Date: August 27, 2024
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): N/A
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Patrick Mandapaka, PhD, AICP, Director of Community Resilience and Transportation Planning, Harris County Engineering
Attachments (if applicable): FY2024 Stage 1 NOFO., Precinct 2 Letter of Support, Project location and High Injury Network Map