UTA is partnering with Salt Lake City and the Utah Department of Transportation on a concept to integrate transportation choices into one simple app. For example, a rider could plan a trip that involves a UTA pass, ride sharing or bike sharing, and pay for all services using one platform – or even with a monthly subscription fee. The goal is to allow households to reduce or eliminate their reliance on car ownership as a mode of transportation.

This unique initiative was recently selected as one of 10 finalists in the 2018 American Dream Ideas Challenge, an effort designed to help the nation’s middle class.

“We are very pleased that our proposal made it through the first round,” said UTA Innovative Mobility Solutions Program Manager Jaron Robertson. “It validates our position that innovative, technology-focused transit solutions are a legitimate means of managing transportation-related costs. 

UTA, Salt Lake City and UDOT received $10,000 to further develop the concept, which will be submitted for a second round of evaluation in November. Out of the current group of 10 finalists, three teams will be given an additional $30,000 to continue to develop their ideas. The winner of that round will have their proposal reviewed by a national committee and will be given a chance to receive $1 million to use toward making their product or concept available to the public 

The Alliance for the American Dream was launched by Schmidt Ventures in April to support ideas that help America’s middle class. The alliance consists of four public universities, the University of Utah, Ohio State University, Arizona State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison, which solicit ideas from their communities and host the American Dream Ideas Challenge. 

The 10 Utah proposals selected as finalists in the American Dream Ideas Challenge range from helping single parents save money through shared living arrangements and child care to boosting opportunities for freelance workers in the state’s rural areas.

“Each of these ideas reflects our state’s innovative, creative and collaborative mindset,” University of Utah President Ruth Watkins said when the recipients were announced Oct. 3. “Utahns from across the state have rallied to come up with great ideas to help fellow citizens gain and keep a foothold in the American Dream.”

More information about the American Dream Ideas Challenge available at https://americandream.utah.edu/.