Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is visiting all seven Smart City Challenge Finalists this week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said.
The Smart City Challenge program will award approximately $40 million to one of the finalist cities, which use it to develop data collection and technological solutions to meet transportation needs.
On Monday, Foxx met with local government personnel and the mayors of Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, Foxx will visit Austin and Denver. Wednesday’s meetings took place in Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco. Foxx will end the tour in Kansas City on Friday.
The seven finalist cities must submit their final proposals no later than Tuesday, May 24.
“As we enter the final weeks of the Smart City Challenge, I’m incredibly excited to meet with local leaders to learn more about their unique visions for the future of their cities,” Foxx said. “I look forward to hearing about the transportation challenges that they are facing and learning their ideas to tackle them.”
Each finalist city received $100,000 to assist in developing its proposal. DOT chose these cities from a field of 78 applicants who applied in the first phase of the selection process.
The DOT initiated this project following a study from Beyond Traffic indicating that aging infrastructure will not be sufficient to meet projected population growth and its accompanying transportation needs.
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