California’s Local Technical Assistance Program (CALTAP) is excited to launch another year of FHWA’s Build a Better Mousetrap (BABM) statewide competition.

Designed to celebrate local ingenuity on a national platform, BABM is a federally sponsored initiative that recognizes agencies from across the country who are using innovation to solve transportation-related problems that improve job safety and efficiency.

To showcase this kind of workplace innovation in California, CALTAP encourages our state and local agency partners to submit an online application describing how your team has produced an innovative solution to an everyday challenge faced by similar local, rural, or tribal transportation professionals.

Eligible solutions must be locally relevant and could include anything from the development of a new project design/delivery process to the invention of a new tool, equipment, or modification that increases efficiency, enhances safety, reduces cost, and/or improves the quality of local road transportation. Any out-of-the-box approach that simplifies or makes safer a routine agency process or practice is a good candidate. 

Submissions should reflect one of five innovation categories:

• Innovative Project - Original, creative solutions that address any phase of a project lifecycle, including planning, design, engineering, construction, or operations & maintenance.
  
  
• Bold Steps - High-risk initiatives or processes that demonstrate breakthrough solutions with significant, high-reward outcomes
  
  
• Smart Transformation - Significant improvements to transportation activities or processes that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound, resulting in measurable efficiency gains
  
  
• Pioneer - Locally developed products or tools that provide first-of-their-kind, home-grown solutions to maintenance challenges
  
  
• Putting Families First - A new program, initiative, tool, or process that greatly enhances transportation and mobility for families in communities and tribal areas

It's easy to participate! Just complete this BABM Application, sign an
 Agency Release Form, and email both documents to admin@caltap.org