This afternoon in the Fastlane - Smart Cities: Connecting People to Opportunity

Last month, I asked state and local leaders to be mindful and aware of how all communities are affected as we rebuild and repair our nation’s transportation infrastructure. But what’s most exciting is that solving the transportation challenges of our past, present, and future allows for a level of innovation and creativity we’ve never seen before.

Last December, we launched the Smart City Challenge to address some of the long-term and emerging trends affecting our Nation’s transportation system that are identified in the our Beyond Traffic draft report. We’ve tasked cities with using intelligent transportation technologies like connected, autonomous and electric vehicles and urban automation to reduce congestion, keep travelers safe, respond to climate change, and support economic vitality.

But, in addition to trying to solve these challenges, we have asked how can cities nationwide use transportation technology and innovation to bridge the growing opportunity gap? Last week representatives from our7 Smart Cities Challenge Finalists and our partners at Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc., Mobileye, Autodesk, NXP, Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs and Amazon Web Services came to DOT Headquarters for the first of several sessions to show us how.

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