Virginia Tech civil and environmental engineering students are celebrating a standout performance in this year’s Traffic Bowl, which is a Jeopardy-style competition testing knowledge of traffic and transportation engineering. This win helped them claim the Southern District title for the first time in program history.
The team, made up of graduate students AJ Joseph and John Stern and senior Ashlyn O’Neill, began their journey in Charlottesville in February, where they competed as a student chapter in the Virginia section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). Virginia Tech soundly defeated the University of Virginia with a final score of 2,900 to 100, earning a spot at the Southern District ITE competition in Memphis, Tennessee.
Held earlier this month, the Southern District Traffic Bowl brought together student teams from nine states across the southeastern United States. Virginia Tech was one of nine schools competing in a series of fast-paced matches of three teams per round. The matches tested both knowledge and composure.
“Much of our preparation came from what we’ve learned in classes,” said Stern. “But we also studied ITE resources to better understand the kinds of questions that might be asked.”
The topics covered ranged from the technical to the historical, with questions like:
- ITE history: In this year, the Southern District of ITE was chartered.
- ITE math: The number of feet in a mile plus the number of sides on a speed limit sign.
- The Highway Capacity Manual: This is the performance measure used for intersection delay.
Each round featured Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy–style questions. One Daily Double in the finals challenged the team to define the “clear zone” — the roadside area kept free of major obstacles — and propelled them from behind to a strong lead over Georgia Tech. Final Jeopardy in the preliminary round asked about “perception-reaction time,” the amount of time a driver needs to detect and respond to a hazard.
After advancing past the University of Memphis and University of Kentucky in the Monday preliminaries, Virginia Tech made it to the final round on Tuesday. There, they defeated two powerhouse programs in Georgia Tech and Clemson in front of an audience of students and transportation professionals attending the Southern District ITE annual meeting.
“Traffic Bowl isn’t just about trivia,” said Stern. “It’s a chance to meet other students and professionals from across the region. Everyone was incredibly supportive, and the whole experience made me more excited about getting involved with ITE professionally.”
“I am incredibly proud of our team,” said Bryan Katz, professor of practice in civil and environmental engineering and the Virginia Tech ITE chapter advisor. Katz is also a member at the Fellow rank of ITE. “We have a strong history of fielding great teams for the Traffic Bowl and have made it to the final round multiple times, but this is our first time winning the final round.”
In addition to the competition, students were able to attend technical sessions and networking events as well as explore Memphis.
Next up for the team: the Traffic Bowl Grand Championship at the ITE International Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Orlando, Florida, August 10–13, where they’ll compete as one of only 10 teams from across the United States and Canada.
By Courtney Sakry