With $50 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Vulcan Inc. (see our June 21, 2016 blog post), Columbus’s Smart City efforts are focusing first on using technology to change how people get around — and making it safer and faster, FoxNews.com reports. Despite an increase in traffic congestion, Jordan Davis, director of smart cities at the Columbus Partnership, said the focus is on “not how many people are getting around, but how they’re getting around.” Integrated data exchange (IED), which collects “data from sensors installed on traffic lights and from other databases,” could be used to notify drivers of the safest route to their destination or where to find available parking. Dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) allows “vehicles to communicate directly with one another,” which could help prevent accidents from unseen, oncoming vehicles.
The plan “also calls for introducing 780 electric vehicles into the city’s public and private sectors by 2020, implementing automated shuttles and creating a system that adjusts speed limits in conditions like inclement weather.” For more, read the full article.
