Ford Announces City:One Michigan Central Station Challenge
Photo: Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is teaming up with the City of Detroit and PlanetM, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s mobility initiative, to launch the $250,000 City:One Michigan Central Station Challenge. The program will enable Detroit residents, groups, and businesses to pitch projects that will ease mobility issues in neighborhoods surrounding the historic depot.
“As the city that put the world on wheels, innovation is in the DNA of all Detroiters. I’m certain that the City:One Challenge collaboration between Ford and the residents around Michigan Central Station will result in a number of unique ideas that will make it easier, safer, and more affordable to get around the area,” said Mark de la Vergne, Chief of Mobility Innovation for the City of Detroit.
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Any projects selected by the triumvirate for pilot testing will be supported by $250,000, and 12 finalists will receive $78,000 in funds to help drive their ideas forward. The prize money comes from Ford and PlanetM as well as sponsors AT&T, Dell Technologies, and Microsoft.
This is the latest Ford City:Challenge to focus on mobility solutions, joining 2018 campaigns in Pittsburgh, Miami-Dade County, and Grand Rapids as well as a recently launched challenge in Mexico City.
Interested parties can visit the City:One Michigan Central Station Challenge website to learn more about the project as well as community working sessions. But if you’re interested, you’d better act fast — as of press time, there are just 69 very nice days remaining to contribute your ideas to the Explore phase of the program.
Ford purchased the historic Michigan Central Station in 2018 and is currently under way on phase two of its restoration. When it reopens in 2022, it will serve as the headquarters of a new Corktown campus.
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