Columbus, Ohio is named Smart Cities Dive’s city of 2018

Columbus, Ohio has been named City of the Year in the Smart Cities Dive website’s awards for its work on transit and electrification. The US city won the US Department of Transportation’s inaugural Smart City Challenge two years ago – and is rolling out a variety of smart city-related programmes. Smart Cities Dive said the city’s “biggest area of progress this year” has been its increased reliance on electric vehicles (EVs), including in its bus fleet and other government vehicles. City authoritie
December 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Columbus, Ohio has been named City of the Year in the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Smart Cities Dive false https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/the-smart-cities-dive-awards-for-2018/542281/ false false%> website’s awards for its work on transit and electrification.

The US city won the 324 US Department of Transportation’s inaugural Smart City Challenge two years ago – and is rolling out a variety of smart city-related programmes.

Smart Cities Dive said the city’s “biggest area of progress this year” has been its increased reliance on electric vehicles (EVs), including in its bus fleet and other government vehicles.

City authorities have announced that they are more than halfway to a goal of 300 EVs in public fleets by 2020, and says that adoption of EVs throughout the city is up 65% from 2017.

The award also reflects Columbus’ embrace of dockless bikes and scooters, and the addition of bus rapid transit (BRT) through the downtown area on one of the busiest routes operated by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA).

COTA also collaborated with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission on the C-pass intiatives, giving free bus travel to 45,000 employees who work downtown.

Meanwhile, the Smart Cities Dive Deal of the Year award went to 8789 Lyft’s %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external acquisition false http://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/lyft-and-motivate-intend-to-implement-bike-share-systems-across-us/ false false%> of Motivate, which “helped level the playing field” between Lyft and 8336 Uber after the latter bought dockless bike-share company Jump.

Disruptor of the Year was given to dockless bike provider Lime, which launched in 2017 and now has a presence in more than 100 markets worldwide – and this year branched out by unveiling a car-share programme in %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Seattle false # false false%>.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • HART uses Init’s e-fare system for buses in Hawaii
    January 2, 2019
    The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) in Hawaii is trialing Holo Card, an account-based electronic fare system from Init, over a three-month period. It will then be made available on all buses owned by Oahu Transit Services. The e-fare system will allow passengers using Oahu’s TheBus service to load passes or add value via their mobile device on route to board a bus or by visiting a local retail outlet. This project stems from an agreement with the City and County of Honolulu Department
    Read More
  • Atlanta conference drives on-demand transport agenda
    May 4, 2018
    The US city of Atlanta is the latest major urban area to consider how integrated on-demand transportation services could help ease congestion and reduce pollution – and boost the regional economy. The subject will top the agenda at next week’s conference on Mobility as a Service (MaaS) which takes place on May 9 and 10 in the city. The conference, called MaaS Market - Concept to Delivery, has attracted leading international experts from Europe and across the US and is supported by the City of Atlan
    Read More
  • Petrol/diesel cars could be fined for using London’s ‘electric streets’
    September 4, 2018
    Drivers in London, UK, could be fined £130 for not using electric or hybrid vehicles on nine ‘electric streets’. The project is intended to cut pollution and improve air quality. Drivers of petrol and diesel cars will be restricted from using some roads in the Shoreditch and Old Street areas of the city between 7am-10am and 4pm-7pm on weekdays.
    Read More
  • Canadian gov invests in PEI’s EV charging infrastructure
    March 18, 2019
    The Canadian government has committed CAN$300,000 to develop six electric vehicle (EV) chargers across Prince Edward Island (PEI) province. The funding is part of the government’s CAN$182.5 million investment to develop a fast-charging network for EVs and establish natural gas stations along roads and hydrogen stations in metropolitan areas. It recently made a similar investment in Vancouver. The chargers, built by the Government of PEI, were funded through Natural Resource Canada’s Electric Vehicle and A
    Read More

Highlighted Content