Charlotte to seek $40 million federal prize for traffic management

Charlotte will try to win a $40 million prize from the federal government for being a “smart city” that can ease traffic.

The City Council on Monday voted to apply for the U.S. Department of Transportation grant, which will be awarded to one midsize city that uses real-time traffic data most effectively.

The DOT announced the contest in December. Proposals must be received by Feb. 4.

Council member Kenny Smith voted in favor of city staff preparing a bid, though he said he was puzzled that the federal government would give away so much money for a plan prepared in such a short amount of time.

“I’m baffled the federal government would give away $40 million for something that took us two months to put together,” he said.

The city didn’t offer any specific concepts for what it might propose. The general idea would be to use data generated from modes such as vehicle traffic, transit and freight rail traffic to reduce congestion.

The city said it won’t spend any money on the proposal.

The $40 million would be awarded over three years.

Five cities will be named finalists and receive $100,000. The winner of the $40 million will be announced this summer.

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Charlotte to seek $40 million federal prize for traffic management."