Today at CES 2016, I announced another key partnership for our Smart City Challenge: the winning city's public bus system will get installation of Mobileye's Shield +^TM on every bus. This driver assistance safety technology helps bus drivers avoid and mitigate imminent collisions and protect road users including bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists.

This technology and support award is in addition to DOT's award of up to $40 million to create an integrated first-of-its-kind city that uses data and technology to shape how people and goods move…and an award of up to $10 million from the Challenge’s launch partner, Vulcan Philanthropy, to support infrastructure for electric vehicles.

The Smart City Challenge is an exciting opportunity for cities that want to improve their transportation networks through innovation, and today’s announcement makes it even more exciting.  That sentiment is shared by Mobileye Founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Chairman Amnon Shashua, who said today, “We are excited to be working alongside the U.S. Department of Transportation on this Challenge, which motivates American cities and communities to embrace forward-looking solutions to transportation challenges they will be grappling with in the coming decades.”

The winning city will be able to collaborate with DOT and with partners like Mobileye and Vulcan to implement bold, data-driven ideas to make transportation safer, easier, and more reliable.  The outcome promises to be a model of what we can achieve when public and private entities work together using leading-edge data and technological tools.

Eligible cities are invited to submit ideas that address or enhance community needs across a range of platforms.  Critical system improvements that increase safety, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance mobility are especially encouraged for review.  Specifically, these innovations will connect people, vehicles, public transportation, and infrastructure through data-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, the sharing economy, and other technologies that improve the way Americans move --whether that’s dropping off kids at school, picking up groceries, getting to work, or accessing critical services.

To help cities prepare their entries, we’ve assembled a lot of information on our Smart City Challenge website.  From the all-day launch forum to informational webinars on the Application Process; Data Architecture; The Sharing Economy and Mobility; Freight & Urban Logistics; and Connected Vehicles & Automation, we have a wealth of on-demand resources available.  And, just today, we’ve added a second set of Questions & Answers in response to feedback we’ve received from several interested cities.

The first round of applications is due February 4, 2016. We’ll announce five finalists in March, who will then compete for the final award to be selected in June.  There’s plenty of time before the February 4 deadline, so if your city hasn’t tested the Smart City Challenge waters, it’s not too late!

And, it’s also not too late for other partners to join Vulcan and Mobileye. We welcome the participation of others who share the vision and goals in the Smart City Challenge Notice of Funding Opportunity. Email smartcitychallenge@dot.gov for more information.