Skip to main content

USDOT launches Smart City Challenge

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has partnered with Vulcan in the Smart City challenge to mayors and city leaders across America to integrate emerging technology into their transportation networks. The winning city will be awarded up to US$40 million from the US DOT (funding subject to future appropriations) to implement bold, data-driven ideas by making transportation safer, easier, and more reliable. In addition, Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan has announced its intention to award up to US$10 millio
December 9, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
The 324 US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has partnered with Vulcan in the Smart City challenge to mayors and city leaders across America to integrate emerging technology into their transportation networks.

The winning city will be awarded up to US$40 million from the US DOT (funding subject to future appropriations) to implement bold, data-driven ideas by making transportation safer, easier, and more reliable.  In addition, Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan has announced its intention to award up to US$10 million to the US DOT winner of the challenge.  The winning city will need to work with Vulcan in order to secure this funding.

The Smart City Challenge builds on the USDOT’s Beyond Traffic draft report issued in February 2015.  This public-private collaboration represents the US DOT and Vulcan’s joint belief that creativity and innovation will be absolutely essential to meeting the significant transportation challenges of the future.  Lessons learned from this competition will be used in other cities to improve networks nationwide and demonstrate a practical path to replacing carbon-based fuel consumption.  US DOT welcomes the participation of other entities who share the vision and goals in the Notice of Funding Opportunity found here. (link www.transportation.gov/smartcity/nofo)

“This is an opportunity for the winning city to define what it means to be a ‘Smart City’ when it comes to transportation.  We encourage cities to develop their own unique vision, partnerships and blueprints to demonstrate to the world what a fully integrated, forward-looking transportation network looks like,” said US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  “America can remain the global leader in maintaining the safest, most efficient system in the world: I am looking for Mayors who share that belief to join us in pushing the boundaries of what is possible.”

Interested cities should submit a high-level description of their vision of a Smart City by 4 February 2016, consistent with the Notice of Funding Opportunity.  US DOT will then announce five finalists in March 2016, who will then compete for up to US$40 million to be awarded to one city in June 2016. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • President Obama says V2V and V2I technology will save lives
    July 16, 2014
    US president Barack Obama has highlighted his Administration’s support for intelligent transportation systems as a job creator and high-tech solution for reducing vehicle crashes and traffic gridlock. Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) members and staff joined President Obama at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia, where the President toured the research and testing facility and delivered remarks on the importance of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicl
  • Latest round of TIGER funding announced
    August 1, 2016
    Nearly US$500 million will be made available for transportation projects across the US in the eighth round of the highly successful and competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. Announcing the funding, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx highlight how this will improve safety and economic opportunity in two US territories, 32 states and 40 communities across the country. This year’s TIGER awards include US$19 million to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania fo
  • Taiwan's Smart Mobility Summit takes shape
    February 10, 2025
    ITS Taiwan-organised event in Taipei takes place on 19 March 2025
  • Solving Detroit’s jams: just ask a Michigan student
    October 17, 2019
    At the Institute of Transportation Engineers annual meeting, a clever student plan to reduce commute times in Detroit suggests the future of the ITS industry is in good hands, write Pete Spiller and Jarrod Cady A team of students from the University of Michigan won a national student Transportation Technology Tournament - sponsored by the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the US Department of Transportation - with a compelling presentation on reducing congestion. In an impressive d