Membership

Annual Sandbox Competition

Since 2020, the ITE Consultants Council has sponsored/hosted an annual sandbox competition open to both student and professional groups. The topic of the competition is determined by members of the Consultants Council in the fall of each year, focusing on a critical area of the transportation industry. Finalists are invited to the ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibition, and winners are announced during the Annual Awards Lunch.

To express your interest in having a team for the 2025 competition and be included in communications regarding specific competition criteria, please click here.

 

Current Year Competition:

Mobility Hub Concept Development & Design

Student and Professional Team Competitions

As transportation options evolve, how people access the multitude of trip options expands. Our communities currently face the challenges and opportunities to influence mode choice through design. Mobility hubs serve as key locations for mode choice. Through introduction of mobility hubs, both engineers and planners have an opportunity to enhance the equality of access to new transportation modes and design resilience of the built environment for all users.

Check out the FAQs here and then read on for more information about this year's competition.

The 2025 Sandbox Competition focuses on mobility hub concept development and design. The competition includes applying a variety of strategic, programmatic, and tactical solutions to improve the resilience of all users in a typical urban (or suburban) setting. The mobility hub general concept should address the following elements: 

  • Increase the number of transportation options available to the community 
  • Encourage environmentally and financially sustainable access and mobility 
  • Prioritize people through design 
  • Ease of transfer between modes 
  • Flexible and scaled to the surrounding environment 

Problem Statement: 

Professional teams and student teams will have different locations.  

  • Professional Teams: The 2025 Sandbox Competition will provide each professional team two locations. Each team will develop a concept plan and design for one (1) mobility hub. Professional teams will be asked to demonstrate the transferability of the design to both locations. 
  • Student Teams: The 2025 Sandbox Competition will provide each student team design a mobility hub for their respective campuses. 

All teams will be tasked with providing a design that serves the surrounding locations. The design should incorporate the suitable transportation solutions/options, and demonstrate how they serve users to benefit mobility, equality and environmental sustainability. Both student and professional teams shall compile the above into a technical memorandum with renderings and a concept plan. 

Types of Transportation modes that should be considered include: 

  • Transit 
  • Freight (delivery / first last mile) 
  • Biking / Bike Share 
  • Pick up / drop off 
  • TNC 
  • Pedestrian / Walking 
  • Parking 
  • Micromobility Devices 
  • Mobility as a Service  
  • Wayfinding 
  • Public space / amenities 

Timeline for the 2025 Competition

  • November 22, 2024-Expressions of interest close
  • January 1-March 31, 2025—Project work done
  • April 1 all entries are due by midnight in the Open Water Portal
  • End of April, two team finalists in both the professional and student categories will be selected
  • Annual Meeting in Orlando—final competition to determine the winners in both the student and professional categories

To express your interest in having a team for the 2025 competition and be included in communications regarding specific competition criteria, please click here.

New this year, we will be doing an informational webinar about the specifics of the competition for those who express an interest in participating. We will do an overview as well as give possible participants the opportunity to ask questions.  The webinar will be held on December 4th from 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET. Below is the Teams calendar information that you can put in your own calendar if you wish to attend.

Microsoft Teams 

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 289 290 048 044

Passcode: gLNNtb

 

Dial in by phone

+1 253-666-4432,,533311678# United States, Tacoma

Find a local number

Phone conference ID: 533 311 678#


Past Competitions:

  • 2024: Resilience in the Face of Climate Change.  Read more -> Journal Article (coming soon) - Info Site
  • 2023: Optimizing Main Street. This competition focused on optimizing the right-of-way for a corridor that could serve as an example in terms of balancing corridor needs, safety, operations, mobility, equity, and livability. Read more
  • 2022: Equitable SimCity. The goal for this competition was to plan and design a community in a post-pandemic world—balancing elements of equitable design. Read more 
  • 2021: Vision Zero Design. This competition focused on near-miss technology to perform safety studies. Read more
  • 2020: Microbility. Read more

 

For questions, contact Kathi Driggs.