This presentation will provide information on, and early findings of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) initiative to improve the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs) at intersections. The USDOT released a request for information (RFI) in September 2022 to solicit input on the possibility of developing real-time roadway intersection safety and warning systems for both drivers and VRUs in a cost-effective manner that will facilitate deployment at scale. Improving the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and other VRUs is of critical importance to achieving the objectives of the USDOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), and USDOT's vision of zero fatalities and serious injuries across the Nation’s transportation system. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2020 there were 10,626 traffic fatalities in the United States at roadway intersections, including 1,674 pedestrian and 355 bicyclist fatalities. These fatalities at intersections represent 27% of the total of 38,824 road traffic deaths recorded in 2020. Separately, considerable development efforts have been made into automation technologies over the past two decades, including in the areas of vehicle automation, machine vision, perception and sensing, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, sensor fusion, image and data analysis, artificial intelligence (AI), path planning, and real-time decision-making. Responses to the RFI indicate that there is broad agreement among industry and public agencies that these advanced and emerging technologies can be adapted to develop and deploy meaningful solutions to this critical safety problem.