Lubbock is one of 77 cities nationwide to apply for the first-ever U.S. Department of Transportation Smart City Challenge. The federal government announced the list of applicants on Monday.
A written statement from the USDOT said, “The winning city will be awarded up to $40 million from USDOT to implement bold, data-driven ideas that make transportation safer, easier, and more reliable.”
Austin was the only other city from Texas to apply.
The statement also said, “Specifically, USDOT is looking at how to integrate multiple innovations such as automated vehicles, the sharing economy and other technologies into a network that connects people to their intelligent transportation system.”
Five finalists will be announced on March 12 with each receiving $100,000. Then a final winner is scheduled to be announced in June.