US DoT’s ‘Smart City Challenge’ targets transportation innovation
The program, announced by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, is designed to demonstrate "what is possible in transportation by using data, technology, and innovation to shape how people and goods move in an urban environment." Specifically, it is focused on how self-driving vehicles will "transform how we move while improving the safety of our streets."
Cities across the U.S., in collaboration with private companies and universities, will compete to win the award based on their visions on how to deploy such technologies in their communities. The technologies include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) technologies, smart sensors, and autonomous vehicles, as well as any partnerships that will enable related pilot projects.
The DoT also announced a collaboration with Vulcan, Inc., the Seattle-based company that oversees Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s business and philanthropic efforts. In the partnership, Vulcan intends to award up to an additional $10 million to the winning city to support infrastructure for electric vehicles.
The DoT is aiming the program mainly at mid-sized cities of between 200,000 and 850,000 people, whose transportation infrastructure is expected to experience the most increasing demands as a result of rapid population growth. The Smart City Challenge is designed to help cities begin to address such challenges.
According to DoT, the winning city "will view Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), connected vehicles, and automated vehicles as the next logical step in its existing, robust transportation infrastructure," as well as "also aim to have critical systems in vehicles and infrastructure that communicate with each other, allow for active citizen participation, and integrate new concepts that leverage the sharing economy." For more, see the Smart City Challenge guidelines.
Related articles:
US DoT rolls out connected vehicle pilot programs
US DoT: Car-to-car communication is coming sooner
Google’s Sidewalk Labs targets smart cities
Audi self-parking cars, V2X coming to Boston area
Ford first to test self-driving cars in new test area
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :