TECHNOLOGY
Remember Smart Columbus? How the city's transit vision evolved
In pursuit of a multimillion-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Columbus said it would become the epicenter of smart transit technology. Does that ambition remain?
Emma Wozniak
Columbus Dispatch
June 21, 2026, 6:01 a.m. ET
A decade ago, Columbus pitched itself as the future of transportation.
Self-driving shuttles would traverse the streets of Easton Town Center. Street lights would double as wireless Internet hubs. A first-of-its-kind autonomous vehicle corridor would be built.
It was that vision, paired with what would become hundreds of millions of dollars in private-sector commitments, that helped Columbus beat more than 70 competing cities to win a $40 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant in 2016 and become the country's "Smart City."