The rural northern community of Grand Rapids is now being served by Minnesota’s Autonomous Rural Transit Initiative, an 18-month pilot program to explore the use of self-driving on-demand microtransit.
Autonomous transit has come to rural Minnesota, supplementing local transportation options.
The service in the small northern city of Grand Rapids, known as goMARTI (Minnesota’s Autonomous Rural Transit Initiative), will run for 18 months and include an area across 17 square miles with some 70 pickup and drop-off locations. Five ADA-compliant Toyota Sienna vans will be used for the service and will all include an onboard safety driver.
Read more: US: Autonomous On-Demand Transit Comes to Rural Minnesota
Seniors riding the Monterey-Salinas Transit system can now use the Cal-ITP Benefits app to quickly confirm their eligibility for discounted fares, and then tap-and-pay with a credit or debit card.
Part of making transit more convenient — and more equitable — is making it easy for riders to get the discounts they are entitled to.
A partnership among state agencies in California, and a local transit provider, has developed an easy-to-use app where seniors can quickly confirm their eligibility for their fare discount, and then simply tap their credit or debit card as they board the bus. The system automatically deducts the appropriate discounted fare from their account.
Read more: US: California Clearing the Way for Easy Contactless Transit Fares
Data has always played an important role for city planners and transportation departments but recently the thirst for data has increased exponentially. Maybe it’s the new forms of mobility appearing on city streets, maybe it’s the increased competition for the curb, maybe it’s all the new charging infrastructure popping up everywhere, or the rise of robot delivery devices on city sidewalks. Whatever the reason, the fact is that cities need data to manage every aspect of what happens on the streets, sidewalks, bike paths, bus lanes, curbs and more.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and the Office of Information Technology have announced the launch of the Colorado Digital Government Strategic Plan, which aims to improve digital services for constituents.
The newly announced Colorado Digital Government Strategic Plan lays out a coordinated approach to improve digital services for constituents.
The state has worked in recent years to improve its digital government experience through efforts including the work of the Colorado Digital Service, appointing Brandy Reitter as executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office and an increased focus on security and accessibility.
Read more: US: Colorado Launches Strategic Plan for Digital Government
Via cloud-based test beds, municipalities leverage applications to tackle challenges from graffiti to parking.
Graffiti breeds graffiti. It’s a reality that prompted city leaders in Tempe, Ariz., to set a goal of reducing it to one instance per four square miles.
“If you don’t clean it up quickly, it attracts more and detracts from the overall appearance of the city,” says Tempe CIO Mark Wittenburg. “But we had a very difficult time reaching our goal, and part of it was just identifying it quickly enough.”
Read more: US: Arizona: Tempe: Smart Cities Team with Universities to Launch Smart City Projects