It’s official: Columbus, not Denver, has won the Smart City Challenge

Denver will not be getting $50 million in assistance to apply technology to long-standing transportation problems.
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The A Line outside of downtown Denver.(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite) a line; dia; denver international airport; train; rtd; denver; colorado; kevinjbeaty; denverite;

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the winner of the Smart City Challenge, worth $50 million in assistance to apply technology to solve transportation problems and come up with solutions that will work in other cities.

It's Columbus, Ohio. Not Denver.

Which is what the Columbus Dispatch reported on Tuesday.

In a press release, USDOT praised Columbus' "impressive, holistic vision" for helping all the city's residents move around more easily and have more access to opportunity. The city's proposal included electric, self-driving shuttles to link a bus rapid transit center with the retail district so it's easier for people to get to jobs and using data analytics to make sure pregnant women in the neighborhood with the highest infant mortality rate have a way to make it to prenatal appointments.

Denver isn't totally out of luck. The transportation department said the six other finalist cities will get some assistance to develop their proposals.

Mayor Michael Hancock congratulated Columbus in a prepared statement and said Denver will look for ways to pursue many of the ideas from its application.

"While we're disappointed Denver did not receive the funding, we created a clear roadmap that will help deliver mobility freedom to everyone who needs to get around town," he said. "We have already begun prioritizing projects from our proposal and look forward to regrouping in the days ahead with our partners at CDOT, RTD and the dozens of other organizations that contributed to our Smart City plan."

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