Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Chief Innovation Officer to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with Central Ohio Transit Authority, hereafter referenced as COTA, in an amount of up to $297,360.00 for the reimbursement of required communication network equipment for the Smart Columbus Connected Vehicle Environment (CVE) project.
On June 23, 2016, the USDOT notified the City of Columbus of its selection as the winner of the Smart City Challenge. As the winner, the City will receive $40 Million in federal funds, $10 million in private funds from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation (Vulcan), and a variety of materials, services and equipment from USDOT Smart City Challenge partners. The City of Columbus pursued and won the Smart City grant with the goal of demonstrating how advanced data and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies and applications can be used to reduce congestion, keep travelers safe, protect the environment, respond to climate change, connect underserved communities, and support economic vitality, otherwise known as the Smart Columbus Connected Vehicle Environment project.
As part of the effort to support the Smart Columbus Connected Vehicle Environment (CVE) project, COTA agreed to be part of the City’s connected vehicle environment project. As the sole transit provider for the region, COTA provides a unique opportunity to collect city-wide data that can help the community make better informed decision. One of these valuable data opportunities lie with the CVE. COTA has agreed to equip and capture data from the entirety of its fleet, including fixed-route, paratransit and supervisor vehicles. In order to do so however, additional onboard equipment will be necessary. The additions required by CVE need to follow this same standard in order to maintain compatibility with the COTA and City network environments, and the staff which support this equipment. Doing so will allow for seamless integ...
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