Contact: CJ Macklin, 646-335-0718, cj.macklin@berlinrosen.com
Jeff Holwell, 720-509-1276, jeff.holwell@cityoflonetree.com
City of Lone Tree Joins Transportation for America’s Smart Cities Collaborative to Tackle Urban Mobility Challenges
In a new collaborative supported by Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, the City of Lone Tree will work with cities across the country to create policies, pilot emerging technology & share insights to improve transportation and help residents get around easier, faster
Lone Tree – The City of Lone Tree announced today it has been selected to join Transportation for America’s (T4A) new smart cities collaborative, supported by Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, to explore how technology can improve urban mobility. Over the coming year, the City of Lone Tree will work with the collaborative’s other fifteen cities to tackle the challenges related to implementing smart city policies and projects – sharing best practices and technical assistance, and piloting new programs. Lone Tree was selected from the nearly 60 cities that applied to be a part of the collaborative, which will hold its first meeting in Minneapolis on Nov. 9-10, 2016.
“From very early on, Lone Tree has been purposeful in its goal to be a national model for its next generation transportation network,” said Jacqueline A. Millet, Mayor of the City of Lone Tree. “The Smart Cities Collaborative is a unique opportunity to continue these efforts and team up with the nation’s brightest minds in transportation and mobility.”
“We’re in the midst of the most transformational shift in urban transportation since the start of the interstate era more than 50 years ago. And just like that era, cities have enormous potential to help or harm their residents with the decisions they make,” said James Corless, Director of T4America. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see this long list of cities proactively shaping the future to ensure that this monumental shift in transportation doesn’t shape their cities without their input and produce a new generation of transportation haves and have-nots.”
“We have spent the past several months speaking directly with cities across the country, and what we’ve heard is mobility is a major issue across the board. There is a desire to do something to solve these challenges, but it is not always clear how emerging technology can be helpful,” said Sidewalk Labs Chief Policy Officer Rit Aggarwala. “Cities understand that they need to work together, but the question has always been how best to band these municipalities in partnership. This collaborative will be an unprecedented step in unifying these urban areas and hopefully accelerate solutions that provide affordable, efficient ways to get around.”
Through the collaborative, Lone Tree and the other member cities will form working groups that will focus on three core areas:
- Automated vehicles, and their potential impact on urban transit systems, congestion, transportation equity, and the environment.
- Shared mobility, and how it could help cities provide equitable, affordable, and more sustainable transportation choices.
- Performance measures and data analytics, and how to use data to manage complex transportation networks and achieve transit equity and environmental goals.
Initially, representatives from Lone Tree will participate in a variety of information-sharing meetings, both with other member cities and with industry-leading transportation experts. From there, city representatives will receive direct technical assistance, create pilot programs and share results with the rest of the collaborative to drive best practices across the country.
The collaborative is the result of the partnership T4A and Sidewalk Labs announced in June to engage cities in developing efficient and affordable transportation options for all. The partnership builds on T4A’s experience collaborating with state and local governments to develop forward-looking transportation and land-use policy, combined with Sidewalk Labs’ expertise working with cities to develop digital technology that solves big urban problems.
The City of Lone Tree will team up with the Shared Mobility working group, and focus on first and last mile solutions to its local transit system. Lone Tree is home to two existing RTD light-rail stations and three more that are under construction. They hope to build upon the success of their existing first/last mile transit system, the Lone Tree Link, and provide innovative mobility solutions to commuters, the local business community, and to Lone Tree residents.
The full list of participating cities in the collaborative includes:
Austin, TX, Denver, CO, Boston, MA, Centennial, CO, Chattanooga, TN, Lone Tree, CO, Los Angeles, CA, Miami-Dade County, FL, Madison, WI, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, Nashville, TN, Portland, OR, Sacramento, CA, San Jose, CA, Seattle, WA, Washington, DC
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ABOUT THE CITY OF LONE TREE:
The City of Lone Tree, incorporated in 1995, is home to over 12,000 residents. Located south of Denver, Lone Tree has become a point of interest for exceptional shopping, cultural arts, top-rated schools and excellent recreational activities. The City of Lone Tree’s convenient location, with easy access to I-25, C-470 and the RTD light rail system, makes commuting for business or leisure trouble-free. For more information on the City of Lone Tree, please visit: www.cityoflonetree.com.
ABOUT TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA:
Transportation for America is an alliance of elected, business and civic leaders from communities across the country, united to ensure that states and the federal government step up to invest in smart, homegrown, locally-driven transportation solutions — because these are the investments that hold the key to our future economic prosperity. T4America is a program of Smart Growth America.
ABOUT SIDEWALK LABS:
Sidewalk Labs is an urban innovation company that works with cities to develop technology that solves big urban problems across transportation, housing, energy, and data-driven management. It’s the result of a partnership between Alphabet and Daniel Doctoroff, the former Deputy Mayor of Economic Development and Rebuilding for the City of New York and the CEO of Bloomberg LP.