“To see the energy and the teamwork that people are putting into this application is pretty amazing,” Foxx said after meeting with Mayor Sly James, other city officials and private companies partnering on an application for a highly coveted federal transportation award.
Kansas City was named one of seven finalists in March for the Beyond Traffic Smart City Challenge. One city will be named in July as the winner of a $40 million federal transportation grant, plus the possibility of $10 million from Vulcan Philanthropy to support the development of electric vehicles, driverless cars and other low-carbon strategies.
James said Kansas City knows the competition is stiff from the other finalists: Austin, Texas; Denver; Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco.
He said the city is confident, but even if it doesn’t win, the work on the grant is already paying dividends.
“We’re building this city for the next 40 years,” James said. “That’s what this grant proposal will reflect.”
Foxx acknowledged the federal government is grossly underfunding infrastructure nationally. He said his department is also trying to fix problems created in the past, like bisecting minority communities with highways and promoting sprawl.
“We’re trying to correct problems of our own making,” he said. The department knows it needs to promote the smartest possible investments and is looking for national technology and innovative models to solve congestion, safety and climate change challenges.
Bob Bennett, Kansas City’s chief innovation officer, said he’s putting the finishing touches on the updated grant application, due Tuesday. He said the summaries he’s seen from other cities are excellent, but he also believes Kansas City has a strong story to tell.
Kansas City’s application includes three key components: providing Wi-Fi and other digital services along what will be a MAX rapid bus line on Prospect Avenue to 75th Street; using data collected throughout the city to make transportation safer and more efficient; and creating the infrastructure to support a wide network of electric and driverless cars.
©2016 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
