The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced more than $50 million in grant awards for 34 technology demonstration projects across the country through the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program.

The competitive grant program provides $500 million over five years for State, local, and Tribal governments to leverage advances in technology to create safer, more efficient, and more innovative transportation systems. The new projects encompass locations across 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

This is the second year of SMART grant awards, for which the Department received 321 eligible grant applications.

The following are just some of the projects include:

■ Projects including the City of Chattanooga, TN, Charleston, SC, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation in WA, focus on using connected vehicle and smart roadside sensors to improve safety for drivers, pedestrians, and other road users on urban streets and rural highways.

■ In Wyoming and Maryland, statewide highway projects will address work zone safety for highway crews through data sharing and speed management.

■ Talladega, AL will deploy smart traffic signals and sensors near the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind to detect and protect pedestrians.

■ Projects in Denver, CO and Contra Costa County, CA will streamline and unify dozens of disparate paratransit providers and systems to make them more accessible.

■ In Canovanas, Puerto Rico, and Broward County, FL, projects will build new digital models of transportation infrastructure to better predict and track maintenance, target improvements, and communicate with the public — especially around storms, flooding, and other weather impacts.

The SMART Grants Program is a two-stage program, with these grant awards focusing on Stage 1 activities, including Planning and Prototyping. Recipients will focus on conducting demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems to improve transportation efficiency and safety.