2023 Caltrans Excellence in Transportation (EIT) Awards - Call for Entries

The Caltrans Excellence in Transportation competition is conducted annually to recognize excellence in transportation design, construction, traffic operations, maintenance, planning, and improvements throughout California.

Entry Deadline

Monday, October 16, 2023

Purpose

The EIT awards recognize excellence in transportation design, construction, traffic operations, maintenance, planning, and improvements throughout California.

Eligibility and Rules

  • The EIT Awards Program is open to all Caltrans districts and programs, local and public transportation agencies, and private engineering and consulting firms, including their consultants and contractors.
  • The nomination must be a public transportation improvement or project currently in use and completed between January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2022.
  • The transportation project must be in California.
  • Projects nominated in previous EIT competitions may be resubmitted if they were completed after January 1, 2020.
  • Winning projects from previous years are not eligible. See previous years' winners.
  • A project can be nominated in only one category. If your project has partners, it’s good to consult with them to make sure the project is only nominated once.
  • Entries must be submitted on the EIT forms. Do not modify the forms. Nominations that are not submitted on the EIT forms will be disqualified.
  • Incomplete nomination packages will be disqualified.
  • Nominations must be received by email at EIT@dot.ca.gov 11:59 p.m., Monday, October 16, 2023. Nominations submitted after the deadline will be disqualified.
  • All materials entered become the property of Caltrans and will not be returned.
  • To ensure you are submitting a complete nomination package, download the scoring criteria and check list for the category in which you will nominate your project.

Judging

A panel of judges will review and score the nominations. The winning project is the one receiving the highest score.

Recognition and Awards

  • One award will be given in each category.
  • Awards consist of a plaque for each organization (maximum of four per project) and certificates for individuals (maximum of 10 per project) who contributed to the winning project as identified in the nomination.
  • No exceptions will be made, and no changes will be made to the names or spellings after the entry deadline.
  • We will only issue plaques and certificates for organizations and individuals identified in the nomination and received by the deadline.
  • Winners will be announced between late summer and early fall.

Questions

If you have questions or need help, please email Caroline Moreno at Caroline.Moreno@dot.ca.gov or call 916.639.6299.

Entry Forms

Accessibility Assistance: Caltrans makes every attempt to ensure our documents are accessible. Due to variances between assistive technologies, there may be portions of this document which are not accessible. Where documents cannot be made accessible, we are committed to providing alternative access to the content. Should you need additional assistance, please contact us at (916) 654-2852 or visit https://dot.ca.gov/request-ada-compliant-documents.

Entry Checklist

Award Categories

Category 1 - Multimodal Transportation

Scoring Criteria

Your nomination will be scored based on the following criteria:

  1. Successfully engaged stakeholders to address local/regional intermodal transportation issues.
  2. Improves accessibility and connectivity for all users.
  3. Demonstrates effectiveness in reducing traffic congestion.
  4. Demonstrates enhancement of the transportation network that integrates the project to its surroundings
  5. Demonstrates benefits to the community, including equitable access.

Category 1. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 2 - Climate Action

Scoring Criteria

  1. Demonstrates a commitment to interagency partnerships in Climate Action by establishing meaningful consultation and collaboration among agencies from a range of sectors (public, private, non-profit).
  2. Improves transportation system efficiency and reduces carbon-intensive travel activity across all modes.
  3. Increases resilience of human and natural systems to climate change delivering social and environmental benefits
  4. Improves the resilience of transportation projects through approaches that promote adaptation to, and mitigates risks from climate change impacts.
  5. Demonstrates leadership in climate action.

Category 2. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 3 - Equity and Livability

Scoring Criteria

  1. Demonstrates new approaches focused on collaborative community and partner engagement.
  2. Integrates complete street networks that provide connectivity and accessibility for all modes of transportation.
  3. Provides meaningful benefits to underserved communities to ultimately improve transportation accessibility and quality of life for people in all communities.
  4. Eliminates transportation related disparities in safety, access, and health.
  5. Restores a sense of community by fostering citizen and private sector participation in local planning, including transportation systems and facilities.

Category 3. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 4 - Cultivating Excellence

Scoring Criteria

Your nomination will be scored based on the following criteria:

  1. Proactively identified and implemented new technologies, innovations, and best practices.
  2. Promotes technologies that encourage livable communities.
  3. Utilized existing assets to increase safety, improve reliability, or reduce congestion within the transportation network.
  4. Development of new innovative, inclusive, and affordable transportation technologies that address mobility and access challenges.
  5. Benefit to the local and regional community.

Category 4. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 5 - Safety First

Scoring Criteria

  1. Successfully engaged stakeholders to address traveler and worker safety issues in roadway and roadside design, practices, and activities in transportation solutions.
  2. Demonstrates high potential to significantly reduce fatal and serious injury crashes.
  3. Demonstrates safety improvements for travelers and workers and reduces or eliminates recurring maintenance activities and worker exposure.
  4. Demonstrates roadway safety in transportation planning, programming, project delivery, construction, and/or maintenance.
  5. Demonstrates high potential to significantly reduce fatalities and serious injuries to transportation network users in underserved communities and communities of color.

Category 5. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 6 - The Highway-Urban

Scoring Criteria

Your nomination will be scored based on the following criteria:

  1. Successfully engaged stakeholders to address urban context and integrate project to its urban surrounding.
  2. Provides effective congestion relief, including options to single occupancy vehicle use.
  3. Demonstrates innovative design and provides safety improvements for workers and travelers by reducing or eliminating recurring maintenance activities.
  4. Demonstrates improvement or protection of the environment through innovative use of materials and processes.
  5. Enhances the transportation system through provisions for multiple travel options and local and regional connectivity.

Category 6. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 7 - The Highway Rural

Scoring Criteria

Your nomination will be scored based on the following criteria:

  1. Successfully engaged stakeholders to address community/regional rural context and integrate project to its rural surroundings.
  2. Enhances transportation system with travel options and local and regional connectivity.
  3. Use of alignment and design enhancing visual and scenic quality.
  4. Roadway and roadside design support preservation of environmental, natural, cultural or historic resources through use of innovative products, materials, procedures and processes, preservation and use of native vegetation or non-native, site-appropriate vegetation to minimize supplemental irrigation.
  5. Demonstrates use of innovative materials or processes.

Category 7. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 8 - Major Structures: Bridges, tunnels, overpasses, interchanges, etc.

Scoring Criteria

Your nomination will be scored based on the following criteria:

  1. Successfully engaged internal and external stakeholders.
  2. Provides travel options to meet local and regional mobility needs.
  3. Avoids or mitigates visual impacts and preserves or enhances scenic quality.
  4. Demonstrates selection of materials and design to reflect the local context.
  5. Demonstrates innovative design or construction methods, and processes that benefit cost, efficiency, safety, quality and use of technology.

Category 8. Nomination Form (DOCX)

Category 9 - Public Awareness Campaigns

Scoring Criteria

Your nomination will be scored based on the following criteria:

  1. Describes the strategic planning, analysis, or research to determine need, objectives and goals for the public awareness effort to meet traveler and public needs.
  2. Demonstrates clear and consistent communication to the targeted audience.
  3. Demonstrates cost effectiveness by maximizing communication to the identified audience through development, execution and delivery of project, initiative, or program.
  4. Demonstrates benefit to the public and/or stakeholders.
  5. Demonstrates effectiveness and identifies/quantifies measurable results in achieving overall success of the program

Category 9. Nomination Form (DOCX)