Denver was selected as one of seven cities competing for a $50 million infrastructure upgrade funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Vulcan Inc. A total of 78 cities signed up to participate in the Beyond Traffic: Smart City Challenge and only seven were selected. The winner will set a major precedent for the future of metropolitan transportation. If we are lucky, Denver will be chosen as the city to lead the country in improving traffic safety.
How will this futuristic infrastructure upgrade work? The DOT wants to incorporate ‘intelligent transportation systems’, which means adopting technologies that include self-driving cars, traffic information infrastructure, electric car charging stations, mobile hotspots and vehicles that communicate with each other. These technologies can work in conjunction to prevent vehicle collisions, improve traffic congestion and make roads safer for pedestrians. Driving in Denver would become much safer and less frustrating.
Each of the finalist cities will receive a $100,000 grant to pitch their final ideas. The winner gets to take home the ‘golden ticket’, which in this case is $50 million to develop the ‘city of tomorrow’.
Which Future Transportation Technologies Might Improve Traffic Safety?
Self-driving cars: Self-driving cars use cameras, GPS, radars and software to navigate roads. The future of driving is currently being developed by major auto manufacturers and software companies, such as Volvo, Google, Apple and Tesla. The winning city will work to test these vehicles with existing infrastructure.
Networked vehicles: In addition to self-driving cars, the DOT has explored technologies that allow vehicles to communicate with each other. Cars would operate on networks that allow quick communication to avoid auto accidents. Both regular and self-driving vehicles could perform these functions.
Traffic information infrastructure: This refers to a digital upgrade of existing infrastructure. Some states already have these upgrades or are working on implementing them, such as weather warnings that send messages to mobile phones.
These are only hypothetical examples that may be implemented by the winning city. Denver may opt to choose different ideas for upgrading its traffic infrastructure. How long will people in Denver have to wait to find out if we have won? The winner of the Smart City Challenge will be selected in June.
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