A team led by Mayor Michael Hancock will make the final pitch Thursday for federal officials to pick Denver for a $40 million award that would make it a demonstration city for transportation technology.
As the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge nears a decision in coming weeks, Denver and six other finalist cities each will have 10 minutes to close the deal in Washington, D.C. The total potential value is $50 million, because the winning city also will receive up to $10 million from Vulcan Inc., created by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, to support electric vehicle programs.
Denver has submitted a wide-ranging proposal that centers on ramping up an integrated data system that would draw real-time information from many sources, providing a detailed picture of travel through the city. It would power programs that give residents and commuters access to more transportation options while connecting smart vehicles to the street grid and to each other, helping to pave the way for self-driving cars.
Some elements focus squarely on making it easier for residents of low-income neighborhoods — especially those without credit cards or smartphones — to connect with ride-sharing services such as Lyft, check out B-cycle bikes or find other ways to fill in transit gaps.
Hancock and Crissy Fanganello, Denver’s director of transportation, think the data system focus gives the city a leg up in a hugely competitive contest that started with 78 cities this year.
“A lot of the cities that are finalists get (the importance of technology) and are moving in this direction already,” Hancock said. “What they’re looking for is the ripple effect — which city can create that drop in the pond that reverberates around the country?”
Fanganello points to the endorsement of Denver’s proposal from 21 cities eliminated in the first round as evidence it’s gaining steam.
But other cities have big ideas for the three-year grant: San Francisco is pitching a $149 million master plan for its transportation system. Austin, Texas, envisions ways to close its economic divides. Columbus, Ohio’s bid centers on creating a smart corridor around a planned bus rapid transit line. Also in the running are Kansas City, Mo.; Portland, Ore.; and Pittsburgh.
Like some other finalist cities, Denver also touts pledges of money and other support from public and private partners, valued so far at $34 million. Fanganello expects that figure to grow.
The Colorado Department of Transportation, which has a RoadX program that’s looking to technology to ease highway congestion, would kick in $7 million of technology, while the Regional Transportation District would buy nine electric buses for its main Colfax Avenue bus line.
Also on board as partners are the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, Xcel Energy, Econolite, Evercar, Qualcomm and Panasonic, which is building a transit-oriented smart city around its new Enterprise Solutions headquarters in Denver.
Denver’s team made its detailed technical case to federal officials Wednesday. As they prepared for the closing pitch, Hancock and Fanganello said the partnerships the city has formed in its Smart City bid likely would lead to new programs even if Denver loses.
“Let me just say this: We have been transformed through this process,” Hancock said. “Win or lose, Denver is better off because of the process.”
Denver’s “Smart City” plan
The city, along with local, state and private-sector partners, is one of seven finalists for the Smart City Challenge program run by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The winning city will receive up to $50 million in public and private dollars to integrate technology that supports connected vehicles, self-driving cars, electric vehicles and smart sensors into its transportation network. Denver’s final proposal calls for four components:
- Enterprise Data Management Ecosystem: This newly combined system will incorporate information from many sources to provide a real-time picture of travel in Denver, including where people are moving and how they’re getting there. The city says this system will “power our entire proposal.”
- Mobility on Demand Enterprise: Using live information from the data system, the city and its partners would make it usable for residents and commuters. That includes creating a single smart-phone app that integrates all public and private transportation providers (including public transit, Uber, Lyft, taxis, car2go and B-cycle); creating a reloadable card, similar to the MyDenverCard, that allows people without smart phones or credit cards to pay for ride-sharing and other technology-fueled transportation services; the addition of 10 B-cycle stations in underserved neighborhoods; and installation of 50 kiosks that provide mobility information and options, mostly in low-income communities.
- Transportation Electrification: To meet a requirement to harness electric vehicle technology, the city plans to buy 103 electric vehicles for its fleet, while the Regional Transportation District would buy nine electric-powered buses for its Route 15 on Colfax Avenue, while a taxi fleet owner and car-sharing network would use dozens of electric vehicles. The city would install 120 charging stations citywide and aim to double the number of electric vehicle purchases by residents over three years.
- Intelligent Vehicles: On the path to supporting self-driving cars, the city and its partners would test technology that connects cars and trucks to each other and to the road network and traffic signals. This includes creating the first “freight efficiency corridor” in the nation, through north Denver, which would keep big-rig trucks out of neighborhoods during the central Interstate 70 project and use communication technology to direct them to other routes. Another project would aim to use dynamic signaling and other technology to improve traffic flow on Colorado Boulevard and Hampden Avenue.
Source: Denver mayor’s office.
