Mayor Edwin M. Lee today applauded the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) for awarding $11 million to San Francisco to fund six innovative projects aimed at reducing traffic congestion and creating a safer and more efficient transportation system. The award was announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at The White House Frontiers Conference, a national convening hosted by President Barack Obama to explore the future of innovation.

“Moving people and goods safely and efficiently throughout our City and region is a top priority for me. With this funding, San Francisco can move forward with a number of pioneering projects across the City that will utilize advanced transportation technology to address traffic congestion on our streets and allow for a smarter and more equitable transportation system for all San Franciscans,” said Mayor Lee. “I thank Secretary Anthony Foxx, Leader Nancy Pelosi, and all of our federal partners for their leadership, and for rewarding San Francisco’s innovative proposals with important federal support.”

“Once again, San Francisco is leading the way,” said Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. “This grant will help our city pioneer the transportation systems of the future -- smart, connected, efficient and shared.”

The six transportation initiatives funded by the grant will be implemented and operated by the Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) in partnership with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), and with support from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley in collaboration with San Francisco’s newly-created smart city incubator, Superpublic. The funded programs will create new connected high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for public transit and carpools; dedicated curb space for pick-up and drop-off by carpools and ridesharing services; smart traffic signals to reduce congestion and improve safety; a connected, electronic toll system for the congestion pricing program at Treasure Island; and, the deployment and testing of electronic, autonomous shuttles serving intra-island trips on Treasure Island.

“This grant allows us to use new ideas and technology to improve how we all get around,” said Ed Reiskin, SFMTA Director of Transportation. “We are excited to further our work to ease congestion, improve transit and enhance pedestrian safety where we need it most.”

“I want to thank the USDOT for selecting San Francisco to be a recipient of this funding, which will help the city transform its ambitious transportation visions into practical solutions,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who is chair of the SFCTA. “The Advanced Transportation grant will support the Transportation Authority’s work to pilot new technologies for congestion management on our highways and on Treasure Island - including shared autonomous vehicles and high occupancy vehicle priority treatments.”

The award comes from the USDOT’s Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment program, a competitive grant program for the development for the large-scale installation and operation of advanced transportation technologies to improve transportation safety, efficiency, system performance, and infrastructure return on investment.