Think you know how to fix Austin's traffic congestion problems?

City leaders want to hear from you.

The city of Austin is partnering with Ford Motor Co., Dell Technologies, AT&T and Microsoft on an initiative called the Austin City:One Challenge, which is intended to encourage the public to think of ways to solve transportation issues.

Created by Ford, the City:One Challenge is a national crowdsourcing program for residents, businesses and community groups to propose and pilot solutions that improve mobility.

Austin was ranked recently as having the worst traffic congestion in Texas, and among the worst in the world. TomTom, a Dutch company that makes navigation systems, pegged Austin as No. 179 globally, and No. 19 in the United States, among its index of 403 cities worldwide with the most congestion, based on 2018 traffic.

Jeff Jones, Ford's vice president of North American city solutions, said he hopes the people of Austin will think of new ways for a better transportation experience.

“Austin is an amazing city. It is growing and has a thriving business and residential community. But with many cities that are growing, mobility problems come with that,” Jones said. “Things like ride-hailing, e-scooters, bike sharing each have different implications for a complex ecosystem. It is our goal to ensure that technologies are harnessed and molded the right way to benefit the community.”

Interested parties can submit their ideas on the Austin City:One Challenge website at www.challenges.cityoftomorrow.com/austin. The first community workshop where people can discuss their ideas will July 18 at the Asian American Resource Center.

Twelve finalists will be selected in October to be reviewed by a panel of judges. One or two finalists will be chosen, and the challenge provides up to $100,000 to fund pilot programs to test the top potential solutions.

Ford launched the City:One Challenge in 2018, with city challenges in Pittsburgh, Miami-Dade County and Grand Rapids, Mich. The program has expanded to Indianapolis, Detroit and Mexico City this year, with Austin being the seventh city to take par

Robert Spillar, the city of Austin's director of transportation, said he hopes the program comes up with more options for Austin.

“What I find interesting and exciting about this is that it gives residents of Austin an opportunity to think about new mobility,” Spillar said. “What we don’t have in Austin is choices. We have buses and cars stuck in traffic.”

Austin Mayor Steve Adler said he loves the idea of asking the community for help in solving some of the city’s most difficult problems.

“I know the city is up for this, because as I go from party to party or to walking down the aisle at the grocery store, I know that almost everybody in Austin has really good idea to solve mobility in this city,” Adler said.