The $50 Million Driverless City Challenge

Burney Simpson

Driverless technology is central to a $50 million urban design challenge along with proposed changes to the 5-Star Safety Rating System that the U.S. Department of Transportation announced this week.

The agency’s “Smart City Challenge“ asks city planners to demonstrate how they would use “advanced data, technologies, and applications” to cut congestion, improve safety, be green, and add jobs.

A city applicant must show how “innovations will connect people, vehicles, public transportation, and infrastructure through ITS, sharing economy, and other technologies.”

To participate, a city must submit its high-level vision of a Smart City by February 4, 2016. The DOT will announce five finalists in March, and the winner in June.

Get more details on the challenge here. Visit here to access a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that spells out the challenge for applicants.

The plan could include such technologies as self-driving vehicles, connected vehicles, and sensor-based infrastructure, according to the NOFO.

The winning city will be awarded $40 million from the DOT and $10 million from Vulcan Inc. The winner must work with Vulcan to secure the funding, the DOT said. Vulcan is focused on support infrastructure for electric vehicles.

The DOT is holding a Smart Cities Forum on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at its Washington, D.C. headquarters.

5-STAR SAFETY ADDS CRASH AVOIDANCE

Also this week, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx proposed changes to the 5-Star Safety Ratings system that incorporate crash-avoidance and other driverless vehicle technologies. See release for a more detailed explanation.

A DOT video suggests blind-spot detection, nighttime visibility, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, and forward collision warning could be included as part of the changes.

The agency also seeks to use a new version of the crash-test dummy, and to change the crash tests to better determine how crashes affect passengers.

The proposal is available for public comment for the next 60 days, and the Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration must review the ideas by end of 2016. If approved, the new ratings would go into effect in 2019 model year vehicles.

Last Friday Foxx popped the champagne to celebrate as President Obama signed a five-year, $305 billion transportation bill (“Big Bucks for V2I, V2V in Transport Bill”).

Photo by Ted McGrath, 2015 Vancouver – The Next Train is to the Waterfront