FHWA 51-16 - San Francisco Thursday, October 13, 2016 Contact: Nancy Singer Tel.: 202-366-0660

City to promote systems that relieve congestion

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced a $10.9 million grant for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) for a variety of intelligent systems technologies (ITS) that will help relieve congestion, improve travel options and improve safety for commuters, including pedestrians and bicyclists.

“Transportation is not just about moving from one place to another—it’s about building stronger communities,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. “This grant offers the people of San Francisco better access to jobs, education and array of essential services to improve the quality of life.”

SFMTA received the $10.9 grant under FHWA’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program and will use the funds to encourage ridesharing and carpooling by creating dynamic pickup curbs, which reserve spaces for drop-offs and pick-ups by time of day for these vehicles. It will also set up regional carpool lanes to speed up travel time and provide incentives for carpooling.

The funding will also go toward making intersections safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists in the city’s neediest communities by deploying smart connected traffic signals, which will also provide signal preference to priority vehicles, such as emergency and public transit. In addition, San Francisco will deploy a connected tolling system that implements congestion pricing to encourage carpooling and ridesharing and public transit ridership. It will also expand automated shuttle service those wishing to access Treasure Island through public transit.

“The project will help San Francisco residents use more wisely their existing highway capacity in a way that can enhance the travel experience for everyone,” Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau said. “The advantage of innovative technology is that it helps us maximize the benefits of what we already have.”

The award was part of a larger announcement totaling $56.6 million to fund advanced technologies various areas in the country. The ATCMTD program funds technologies that address the concerns outlined in Beyond Traffic, the USDOT report issued last year that examines the challenges facing America's transportation infrastructure over the next three decades, such as a rapidly growing population and increasing traffic.

ATCMTD was established under the “Fixing America's Surface Transportation” Act. State departments of transportation, local governments, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations and other eligible entities were invited to apply under the program.

The project was finalist under the Smart City Challenge program.

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