The USDOT Advanced Research Projects Agency – Infrastructure (ARPA-I) has launched a new Ideas Challenge, offering individuals a chance to showcase innovative concepts that will improve transportation safety, lower costs, and enhance our U.S. infrastructure.

America needs transportation technologies that decrease long term costs, increase system safety, enhance infrastructure resilience, and make America more globally competitive. Delivering that vision will require bold new investments in advanced and emerging materials, structures, components, systems, and capabilities – both physical and digital – that have the potential to radically transform our transportation infrastructure.

Ideas Challenge is ARPA-I’s open call to innovators across public/private sectors to help identify the most promising and transformative Research & Development proposals that have the potential to deliver technologies that radically:

• Enhance the safe, secure, and efficient movement of people and goods
• Lower long-term costs of infrastructure planning, construction, & maintenance
• Strengthen resilience of infrastructure against physical, natural, & cyber threats
• Enhance U.S. global leadership in advanced transportation infrastructure tech

Winning proposals may be awarded prizes of up to a total of $320,000 each across two stages, with winners recognized by USDOT leadership as well as a distinguished public and private sector judges. Winners will be invited for further in-depth discussion of their proposals and their ideas will aid in informing the R&D path forward for ARPA-I and USDOT, including its modal R&D organizations.

Visit ARPA-I for more information. The deadline
to apply is September 17th, 2025, 2:00 PM PST.