Skip to main content

Seven finalist cities for US Smart City Challenge announced

After what he called an ‘overwhelming response’, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced seven finalists for the US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Smart City Challenge. The USDOT has pledged up to US$40 million to one city to help it define what it means to be a Smart City and become the country’s first city to fully integrate innovative technologies – self-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensors – into their transportation network. The finalists are: Austin, Texas;
March 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
After what he called an ‘overwhelming response’, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced seven finalists for the 324 US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Smart City Challenge.

The USDOT has pledged up to US$40 million to one city to help it define what it means to be a Smart City and become the country’s first city to fully integrate innovative technologies – self-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensors – into their transportation network.

The finalists are: Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Kansas City, Missouri; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco, California, who will each get US$100,000 to further develop their proposals.

“The level of excitement and energy the Smart City Challenge has created around the country far exceeded our expectations,” said Secretary Foxx. “After an overwhelming response – 78 applications total – we chose to select seven finalists instead of five because of their outstanding potential to transform the future of urban transportation.”

The winner will be announced in June and will receive up to UAS$50 million, including US$10 million from launch partner, Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan to support electric vehicle deployment and other carbon emission reduction strategies.

Other partners that have already joined the Smart City Challenge include 4279 Mobileye, 2184 Autodesk and 5460 NXP.

Related Content

  • December 5, 2018
    Ride-hailing firm Lyft highlights new bike-share service
    Lyft, the ride-hailing firm which rivals Uber, has shown off the distinctive, pink-tyred bicycles which it is to use in its new bike-share programme. The company has completed its acquisition of US bike-share giant Motivate, which was announced in the summer, and will branch into two-wheel journeys soon. The company says this represents a “natural extension of Lyft’s vision to improve transportation access, sustainability and affordability”. Lyft says that 80% of all bike-share rides in the US were co
  • April 1, 2015
    Six US states get funding for innovative infrastructure efforts
    US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced US$4.38 million in grants from the Federal Highway Administration’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) demonstration program to Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. The grants will be used to fund innovative road and bridge work that will lead to better, safer road infrastructure efforts nationwide. “Innovation in our transportation infrastructure will change the way America moves,” said Secretary Foxx. “These
  • August 21, 2012
    BMW to launch ParkNow mobile parking service in San Francisco
    At a press conference yesterday with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, BMW Group board member Dr Ian Robertson announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow, an innovative mobile parking solution that is a joint venture with Urban Mobility, and provided new details about DriveNow, a premium car-sharing service which features a fleet of BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles. San Francisco serves as the initial US market for each service.
  • December 22, 2014
    Funding to speed innovation in US transportation projects
    US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced US$5.37 million in grants from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) designed to accelerate deployment of innovative road and bridge work. The funds will be used to offset the cost of pioneering highway project delivery in six states.