Page 18 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – September 2018

By Dan Armitage
Columbus is the nation’s first smart city. What’s that, you ask? We had the same question and Michael Stevens, chief innovation officer for the City of Columbus and Smart CBUS spokesperson, has the answer.
“Columbus was inspired by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge, issued in 2015,” Stevens explained. “The USDOT and Vulcan Inc., a Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, asked midsize cities across America to develop ideas for an integrated, first-of-its- kind smart transportation system that would use data, applications and technology to help people and goods move more quickly, cheaply and efficiently. Seventy-eight cities applied for the Smart City Challenge grants, and Columbus was named the winner.”
Since winning the challenge, says Stevens, the public, private and academic sectors in the Columbus region have embraced Smart Columbus’ mission of accelerating human progress through mobility. In addition to the grant funding, the private and public sectors have rallied
more than $502 million in aligned investments that will complement, scale and sustain Smart Columbus projects and programs into the future. It has a goal of securing
$1 billion of aligned investments in this “Acceleration Fund” by 2020.
“Smart Columbus is the smart city initiative for the City of Columbus and the Columbus region,” Stevens said. “We have a vision that starts with the reinvention of mobility, which will lead us to a future beyond what anyone has yet imagined. We’re taking on the coveted job of ‘becoming smart’ by transforming mobility in
our city.
“Through our USDOT grant initiatives, Columbus will conduct a series of technology and transportation demonstrations, everything from testing autonomous vehicles to establishing a connected vehicle environment, to creating smart mobility hubs, and more — all with the goal of improving people’s lives through equitable
access to mobility. Through the Vulcan Inc. grant, we’re working to increase electric vehicle adoption in our city
iStock.com/Sean Pavone • Shutterstock.com/Liu zishan
by 480 percent in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the Columbus transportation sector. And through the collaboration of the private sector, we’ll scale the opportunity presented by the grants and inspire a regionwide culture shift to transform Columbus into an epicenter of smart mobility.”
As the winner of the Smart City Challenge, Columbus was awarded two grants: $40 million from the USDOT and $10 million from Vulcan Inc. In addition, the Smart Columbus Acceleration Fund stands at $502 million. The Acceleration Fund is made up of an $11 million cash fund and a series of committed and aligned investments by the public and private sector that advance the mission of Smart Columbus.
“Our mayor, Andrew J. Ginther, believes that ‘mobility is the great equalizer of the 21st century,’” Stevens said. “That if we can expand access to affordable, reliable and safe transportation, residents can gain greater access to school, work, healthcare and even healthy food. By providing access to those resources, we can put our residents on ladders of opportunity toward a better life.”
That’s smart, Columbus!
Dan Armitage is a regular contributor from Worthington, Ohio.
Waymo’s fully self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan. Photo: Aron Pruiett
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