U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Tuesday announced that local communities across the country will receive nearly $65 million in grants to support advanced technology transportation projects.

The grants are being awarded through two U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) initiatives aimed at promoting the use of advanced technologies in transportation: the Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program run by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Mobility on Demand (MOD) Sandbox program overseen by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

In total, the grants will be leveraged to bring close to $170 million in public and private investment to deploy smart city technologies in both large and small local communities across the nation.

These grants build on U.S. DOT’s successful Smart City Challenge, which inspired cities, federal agencies, universities, and the private sector to work together to harness new technologies.

“From automated vehicles to connected infrastructure to data analytics, technology is transforming how we move around our country, and some of the most exciting innovation is happening at the local level,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

“These grants will enable cities and rural communities to harness new technologies to tackle hard problems like reducing congestion, connecting people to mass transit, and enhancing safety,” he added.