Smart cities are urban areas that use technology and data collection to improve the quality of life of their residents, their sustainability, and operational efficiency.
Innovative transportation systems like microtransit are an essential element of smart cities.
Key Takeaways
- Smart cities use evolving technological advances to achieve optimal city planning for the most efficient and sustainable present and future.
- Smart transportation is necessary to smart cities.
- Cities should implement systems like microtransit, bike and E-scooter sharing, smart parking, and smart traffic signals to smarten their transportation systems.
Types of Innovative & Smart Transportation
1. Microtransit
Microtransit is a flexible, on-demand transportation service that bridges the gap between traditional public transit and ride-sharing. Microtransit uses real-time tracking of its vehicles to better understand rider routes and traffic patterns, connect first-mile/last-mile gaps in mass transit, and deliver the most efficient transport to its riders. Microtransit data can help city officials make informed decisions about their transportation systems.
Circuit’s microtransit system in Hollywood, FL uses live data to decrease rider wait times from the city’s fixed-route bus system.
As of 2024, the shuttle had provided Hollywood with 15% in cost savings, rider wait times had decreased by 25%, and Circuit’s use of its all-electric vehicle fleet had prevented 83 metric tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.
2. Bike and E-Scooter Sharing
Bike and E-scooter sharing systems allow passengers to ride, share, and drop-off bikes and E-scooters. These systems reduce air and noise pollution, improve traffic congestion, help connect gaps in mass transit systems, and use tracking data to tell riders where to find available bikes and scooters.
Citi Bike NYC is a bike-sharing system that provides New Yorkers with the ability to ride classic and E-bikes for inexpensive fees. Citi Bikes are equipped with GPS and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) systems that track the location of the bikes to help register when a rider unlocks or parks a bike, so that future riders have up-to-date information about the availability of bikes in their area.
3. Smart Parking
Smart parking uses varied combinations of sensors, cameras, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems to detect and provide real-time data on the presence of vehicles in parking spaces, mobile apps to allow drivers to reserve and pay for spaces, and License Plate Recognition (LPR) to eliminate the need for tickets and physical barriers by reading license plates upon parking lot entry and exit. Smart parking makes parking more efficient, reduces congestion, and lessens parking infrastructure maintenance costs.
SFpark in San Francisco, CA uses sensors to monitor real-time street parking availability for drivers and adjusts its parking meter prices accordingly. This demand-responsive pricing encourages drivers to park in less crowded areas which helps to even out parking and street congestion.
3. Smart Traffic Signals
Smart traffic signals use AI, sensors, and cameras to monitor and control traffic signal lights in order to reduce traffic congestion and improve overall safety.
Copenhagen Intelligent Traffic Solutions (CITS) platform in Copenhagen, Denmark uses a network of Wi-Fi access points in traffic lights to anonymously collect data about the positions and routes of people on the road. The traffic lights vary in luminosity depending on whether or not they detect movement from passengers. This smart lighting system allows Copenhagen to significantly reduce its public lighting consumption and cost and intentionally prioritize bikes over cars with traffic signaling. CITS helps Copenhagen improve traffic flow, reduce carbon emissions, and promote safety.
Why Cities Should Implement Smart Transportation
Smart transportation moves cities forward, literally. It helps cities:
- - Close the first-mile/last-mile gaps in their existing mass transit
- - Provide cost-effective mobility
- - Improve the accessibility of an area
- - Reduce urban congestion
- - Collect meaningful data for city officials
- - Make urban areas safer
- - Diminish air and noise pollution
How to Implement Smart Transport
While we don’t specialize in parking spots or traffic lights, Circuit is a pioneer of all-electric microtransit. We work with cities, private partners, and community members across the country to help them in their transition to becoming smart cities.
If you’d like to smarten transport in your city, contact us, and we’ll help you achieve a smart, sustainable future!
