Smart Cities Collaborative Gets Ready to Kick Off a 2nd Round
Denver, Colorado Shutterstock
Nearly two dozen cities are planning to participate.
Twenty-two cities are set to participate in the second round of an initiative looking at how urban areas can incorporate emerging technologies and services into their transportation networks.
Transportation for America, an advocacy group, is spearheading the project, dubbed the Smart Cities Collaborative. The inaugural round of the initiative took place last year. A key area of focus for this year's cohort will be how new technologies and other factors are reshaping public right-of-ways and curb space.
"Streets and curb space are some of the most important assets cities control, yet they’re often under-managed. There is increasing demand for the right-of-way, and access to the curb is becoming the most desired piece of real estate in a city," Russ Brooks, Transportation for America’s director of Smart Cities, said in a statement.
"Our goal is to empower cities to more effectively manage these assets," he added.
Automated vehicles, dockless bike-sharing and electric scooters are among the technologies and trends Transportation for America highlighted in an announcement about the collaborative.
The first meeting for this year's program will take place April 16 to 17 in Denver. Throughout the year, participating city attendees will take part in workshops. They'll also get access to technical assistance.
Over 50 cities applied to be part of the collaborative, according to Transportation for America.
Twelve of the cities were among the 16 that participated in the program last year.
Cities in this year's cohort include: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boulder and Centennial, Colorado; Gainesville and Miami-Dade, Florida; Houston; Indianapolis; Madison, Wisconsin; Minneapolis; New York City; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, Los Angeles and West Sacramento, California; Seattle; and Washington, D.C; and the Canadian city of Toronto.
Bill Lucia is a Senior Reporter for Government Executive's Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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