Central Ohio businesses, institutions and organizations have stepped up to support the city of Columbus’ effort to win the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart Cities Challenge grant by pledging $90 million in private support for the initiative, well beyond the $50 million required to match the grant.

Columbus is one of seven finalists competing to win a $40 million grant to test future modes of transportation. The winning city also will receive an additional $10 million from Vulcan Inc., a company founded by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. Columbus plans to use the funds to test driverless cars in the Easton area, provide more transit options such as Car2Go, Uber and a ride share program in Linden and develop a smartphone app with real-time data for trucks at the Rickenbacker Inland Port.

“We want Columbus to be synonymous for intelligent transportation systems in the same way Silicon Valley is synonymous for information technology,” the city’s application notes. Columbus beat out 71 other cities to rank among the finalists that include San Francisco, Austin, Denver, Pittsburgh, Portland and Kansas City. Read more.

Written By:

Cheryl Pentella
ULI Columbus Communications Committee Chair
Principal at Pentella Unlimited