Columbus to Forge Ahead as a Smart City

To the surprise of those outside Columbus, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the Ohio capital as the Smart City Challenge winner and presented city officials with $40 million in late June. The competition that asked local governments to envision how their city could fuse transportation systems and technology in new, meaningful ways drew in 78 applications from all over the country - with Columbus being the only finalist city without a dedicated rail service already in existence.