St. Louis Transit to (Hopefully) Benefit from Challenge

St. Louis wants to win a $50 million challenge aimed at improving transportation.

The Associated Press says the city has submitted an application to a U.S. Department of Transportation challenge. The department is offering up to $40 million to implement new ideas to make transportation "safer, easier, and more reliable." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen's company Vulcan Incorporated will award up to $10 million for electric vehicles and funding ways to reduce carbon emissions.
The St. Louis application includes outlines for plans for a regional data center, which would collect and process transportation data to be used by several agencies and app developers, according to the AP.
Five finalists will be announced in March at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. The final selection process is set for June.