A US city has announced that it will introduce 'smart city' technology in a bid to transform the safety of its road infrastructure. Officials in the City of Atlanta have confirmed that technology developed by US firm Applied Information (AI) will be deployed across the city in an effort to connect traffic signals, emergency vehicles and school zone safety flashers to the Internet of Things.
The initiative is part of the city's overall 'Renew Atlanta' infrastructure improvement program - which is being pursued aggressively by city officials as they attempt to make Atlanta a leading 'smart city'.
The AI technology set to be deployed across the US city included the introduction of a smartphone application entitled Glance Travel-Safely that aims to connect drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to the infrastructure and each other to improve safety and mobility, especially in areas that have been identified as black spots or potential hazards.
In addition to this, it has been disclosed that Atlanta will also use a Glance Smart City Supervisory platform also developed by AI - that will enable cities to manage all their traffic and ITS assets on one web-based application. President of Applied Information, Bryan Mulligan stressed that the primary objective of his firm was to develop and deploy innovative solutions specifically designed at addressing safety and mobility issues across US cities - and ultimately saving lives.
Mulligan said, "Through the everyday use of smartphones and other wireless technology, we see that a connected world just works better. Connecting people on the move to make them more visible to each other can help save lives and make commuting safer and more enjoyable."
The AI Glance systems offer a number of smart city capabilities such as emergency vehicles being given priority and green lights at intersections that are flushed of traffic ahead of time. In addition to this, users of the smartphone app will be sent notifications warning them that they will be approaching an emergency vehicle. Forty-six of the city's intersections will be connected.
otorists will also be informed via the smartphone if they have entered a school zone and a warning if they exceed the reduced speed limit.
It has been further disclosed that the app will be fully deployed and activated officially in January 2018. Anyone driving, cycling or walking in the Renew Atlanta coverage area can use the app which is free for Apple iPhone and Android users.