7 Cities, 6 Technology Firms, and $50+ million

U.S. DOT announces finalists for its Smart City Challenge

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Fox, far left, with Vulcan Inc. President and COO Barbara Bennett congratulate the seven Smart City Challenge finalists during South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas. The finalists from left, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Kansas City Mayor Sly James, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, Denver representative Jose Comejo, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, San Francisco representative Ed Reiskin.

When the Obamas descended upon South by Southwest earlier this month, they became the first sitting U.S. President and First Lady pair to participate in the media and music festival in its 30-year history. In his keynote, President Obama called upon the audience to “reconceive [notions] of our government” and leverage technology and data across public and private sectors to solve the country’s challenges.

On the very next day at the festival, fellow Washingtonian and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx revealed the finalists of one such effort, the Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge, for which the winning U.S. city will receive a $40-million grant to “fully integrate innovative technologies—self-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensors—into [its] transportation network.” The seven finalists (Austin, TX; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, OR; and San Francisco, CA), whittled down from 78 applications, will each receive an initial $100,000 grant to further develop their proposals into more detailed roadmaps.

The prize commitment also demonstrates the power of the federal government to attract private capital and talent, as a variety of corporate partners have emerged since its announcement in December 2015:

• Amazon.com, the online retailer, pledged $1 million of credits for cloud computing services and professional support to the winning city through its web service and cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services.
• Autodesk, a U.S. engineering software developer, will offer a free yearlong subscription to Infraworks 360, a 3D-modeling platform used for civil infrastructure planning. (The seven finalists will receive access and training to enhance their challenge proposals as well.)
• Mobileye, an Israeli technology firm, will equip the winning city’s public bus fleet with driver assistance safety technology to reduce collisions.
• NXP, a Dutch semiconductor manufacturer, will provide the winning city with wireless communications technology (vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure) to prevent accidents and improve traffic flow.
• Sidewalk Labs, a Google spinoff dedicated to urban technologies, will work with the finalists to develop a data analytics and mapping software platform that can diagnose and manage traffic congestion.
• Vulcan, a holding company founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, pledged $10 million to support electric vehicle deployment and other carbon emissions reduction strategies in the winning city.

U.S. Department of Transportation “Beyond Traffic 2045”

The U.S. DOT issued its Smart City Challenge based on Beyond Traffic 2045, the department’s 30-year vision for the future of transportation, in which autonomous vehicles (AVs) feature prominently. Thus far, cities have surprisingly lagged behind the federal government in considering the implications of such trends. As of 2013, only one of the 25 largest metropolitan planning organizations in the U.S. mentioned driverless cars in its long-term regional plan.

The ensemble nature of this round of supporting cast reflects the complex mesh of technology and data required to safely and efficiently integrate AVs in cities. Despite the distant proximity of its administrative authority, Washington still has a meaningful role to play in driving relevant policy development and investments.