FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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District Department of Transportation Seeks Vendor Applicants for Autonomous Vehicles Observation Zone Challenge
(Washington, DC) — The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) today announced the launch of the Autonomous Vehicle Observation (AVO) Zone Challenge and is now accepting proposals from qualified vendors. The Challenge seeks an innovative sensing solution capable of detecting and identifying autonomous vehicles (AVs) operating within the District and providing data that supports the observation and analysis of AV fleet operations. The selected vendor will receive $50,000 and will pilot its technology for three to six months at two intersections along the M Street SE/SW corridor.
As autonomous vehicle technology continues to expand in cities across the country, DDOT is taking a proactive approach to better understand how these vehicles interact with pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and other motorists. The AVO Zone Challenge will help establish a data-driven framework for evaluating AV operations in the District while supporting transparency, informed policymaking, and public accountability.
“The observation and analysis of autonomous vehicle behavior is an important part of understanding how these technologies fit into the District’s transportation system,” said DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum. “This initiative will help us better understand real-world autonomous vehicle operations while supporting thoughtful planning, public transparency, and informed decision-making.”
The project will allow DDOT and its academic partners to observe autonomous vehicle behavior and compare it with baseline data collected from human-driven vehicles. The findings will help inform future discussions regarding autonomous vehicle testing, deployment, and regulation in Washington, DC. Community engagement will also be a central component of the project, creating opportunities for residents, businesses, and stakeholders to provide feedback and help identify behaviors and operational issues that should be studied.
The project is funded by the DDOT Research Program and is conducted in partnership with the Southwest Business Improvement District, US Ignite, the George Washington University, and the University of Washington. Data gathered by the winning Challenge vendor will be analyzed by the academic faculty at the two universities that specialize in autonomous vehicles and urban traffic system modeling and operations.
Challenge Timeline
DDOT encourages companies, startups, academic institutions, research organizations, and nonprofit entities to participate in the Challenge.
Interested applicants are invited to attend a virtual information session on June 11, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. ET. The session will provide an overview of the Challenge objectives, application requirements, evaluation criteria, and pilot expectations.
Registration information and application materials are available at:
https://www.us-ignite.org/avochallenge/
Applications must be submitted by July 16, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
The winning applicant will be announced in August 2026, and pilot deployment is expected to begin in early 2027.
Challenge Requirements
The sensing solution must be able to provide three key outputs:
Detect autonomous vehicles at two intersections, 4th and M SW, and New Jersey and M SE. The detection cannot rely on in-vehicle transponders or license plate reading.
The solution must be able to detect three constant, reliable, unambiguous behaviors (e.g., "Right Turns" as opposed to "Near Misses") for all vehicles.
The proposer will have to describe how quickly their solution can be programmed to detect new behaviors that DDOT identifies during the pilot period. These behaviors will address concerns raised through community engagement.
Building for Future Work
This Challenge is a pilot for broader technology deployment in the AVO Zone, if successful. The Challenge will prove out the feasibility of the sensing technology and establish the baseline behaviors for monitoring. It will start the community engagement process to ensure the community is a partner at the table in this effort, informing and participating in the testing and evaluation of AVs. Finally, it will build the data management structure that will enable broader use of this data by DDOT, academics, and other public agencies, as well as enabling public transparency around AV performance.
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The District Department of Transportation's mission is to equitably deliver a safe, sustainable, and reliable multimodal transportation network for all residents and visitors of the District of Columbia.
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