An extended trial of smart city technologies has shown benefits ranging from increased revenue for local businesses to reduced energy consumption and lower levels of crime.
The Smart Cities Living Lab powered by AT&T in Dallas, Texas, is a four-block area with nine smart city projects. Managed by the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA), a public-private partnership, the aim was to test various technologies and look at how they might be scaled up for larger city-wide deployments, Government Technology reports.
DIA recently issued its year-end report on the findings of the pilot projects.
This revealed that the area saw a 13% increase in pedestrian traffic flow, local businesses experienced a 12% increase in revenue, and there was a 6% decrease in crime year-over-year. Information from pedestrian mapping provided insights to local businesses on times to capture increased foot traffic.
A deployment of smart lighting led to a 35% reduction in energy use, and the report said that intelligent controls across the city would equate to at least $90m (£71m) of operational savings over the life of the LED bulbs.
Street-mounted interactive kiosks offered various services, including transit information, local points of interest, public facilities and a ‘selfie’ function. They were used by over 440 people per month on average, with 53% accessing multiple functions.
Perhaps not surprisingly, monitoring of environmental quality revealed increased pollutants and particulate matter in the hours following the 4th of July fireworks. These types of insights could be used to educate the public and those suffering from asthma to take precautions during festivities, DIA said.
Tags: Smart City, smart lighting