U.S. to award $40 million for futuristic city transportation project

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday it will award up to $40 million to a mid-size U.S. city to pilot efforts to use technology to reduce congestion and speed traffic.

The "Smart City" competition will approve $40 million for a "fully integrated, first-of-its-kind city that uses data, technology and creativity to shape how people and goods move in the future," the department said.

The effort is the latest bid by the Obama administration to advance technology fixes to address the nation's clogged roads, including "vehicle to vehicle" communications that could help avoid crashes.

The full $40 million is contingent on Congress approving funding in future budget years.

"What we are hoping to see is some real 'moonshots' to how innovation can solve some of those pressing transportation problems," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in an interview Monday. "There are an unlimited number of innovations and technologies that could play a role here."

President Barack Obama on Friday signed a five-year $305 billion highway and infrastructure bill, but less than the $476 billion over six years the administration sought. Congress declined to boost gasoline taxes to pay for additional repairs, opting instead for a transfer from the Federal Reserve's surplus funds, an increase in customs fees and a requirement for the Internal Revenue Service to use private tax collection agencies.

The administration will accept applications and name five mid-size U.S. cities with about 200,000 to 850,000 residents in March as finalists. A winner will be named in June.

Communities could propose improving transportation through intelligent transportation systems, car sharing programs, electric vehicle charging infrastructure or other "technologies that improve the way Americans move, whether it be to drop off kids at school, pick up their groceries, get to work, and receive critical services," the department said.

The administration also said that billionaire Paul Allen's investment company Vulcan Inc. plans to award up to $10 million to the "Smart City" winner.

Foxx has been pushing Congress and the nation to plan for how U.S. transportation needs will change over the next 30 years and "reimagine transportation. The future is now and we've got to start stepping more boldly into it."

Foxx says the U.S. currently has congestion costs of $121 billion annually -- and is forecast to add 70 million people by 2045.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Diane Craft)

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