Urban mobility: smart monitoring makes cities safer and more efficient

Publicity

Mobility is a challenge for most Brazilian cities. Improving citizen movement and safety requires investments in cutting-edge technologies and intelligence. Some of the municipalities in Brazil already have the resources that can help public bodies manage public roads and safety. These are so-called smart cities, a topic discussed at the Sorocaba 2050 Forum, which was held on May 17th and 18th in the Sorocaba (SP) Parque Tecnológico [technology park]. According to a survey released this year by the Smart Cities Chamber of the Federation of Industries of Santa Catarina (Fiesc) and the Fiesc Business Academy, it is expected that the global market for technologies aimed at modernizing cities to make them smart will increase from the current level of US$ 511.6 billion to US$ 1 trillion in 2027. According to Alex Sato, engineering manager for the Splice Group, these data show that, in fact, many public managers are investing in this front in order to make their cities more agile, efficient and modern, and to serve the population in a more humane way. They are doing so either because society is increasingly attentive to this situation and is demanding it, or on their own initiative aimed at modernizing management systems,” he says. One of the means Splice offers the market is its Integrated Smart System (SIIS), a multi protocol platform developed by the corporation that integrates software and hardware for the most diverse market segments, including artificial intelligence, data, and complete dashboards that make management more agile and efficient in line with the various approvals and protocols required by regulatory bodies. “The objective of this great technology ecosystem is to promote quality of life and well-being for the population,” says Sato.

Municipalities (and the population) see rapid improvements as systems are modernized

A Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Vila Velha (ES), the SRE-IP Consortium has taken over the operation and maintenance of public lighting units, set up accent lighting for the city’s main cultural assets, and modernized and increased the efficiency of all of the more than 37,000 LED lamps in the municipality’s public lighting system, 50% of which are managed remotely on main roads with heavy traffic using an Operational Control Center. Public lighting is recognized as the main infrastructure required for implementing the concept of smart cities, and because all the lighting points are distributed across a large geographic area in cities they can become a point of connectivity. There has also been a significant reduction in the city’s electricity consumption, with a 63.59% drop in the amount being spent by the city hall. “These lamps make the city much brighter at night than conventional lamps, and this increases people’s safety and lets them enjoy public spaces, such as squares, parks, and the seafront much more,” Sato stresses. The engineer also commented on the Smart CPGI Consortium (public consortium for integrated management), which involves managing, operating, modernizing, optimizing, expanding, and maintaining the public lighting network in eight municipalities: Albertina, Andradas, Bandeira do Sul, Caldas, Divisa Nova, Ibitiúra de Minas, Ipuiuna, and Santa Rita de Caldas.

“In Albertina, for example, we’ve introduced several technological innovations, such as an ‘electronic wall’ (a state-of-the-art technology solution for monitoring traffic and public safety, which provides accurate and reliable information about the vehicles circulating in a given region by reading license plates), 360-degree video surveillance cameras, a weather station, free internet for people living in various parts of the city, and dashboards for compiling and cross checking data. There have been significant improvements in terms of the quality of life and well-being of citizens, who now spend more time in the squares due to internet access, better lighting, and improved monitoring resources that drive away those whose intentions are bad. This has resulted in commerce being open longer and there’s better security when public events are held,” says the specialist.

Tecnologia a favor dos cidadãos

“When we talk about urban mobility, we understand that it’s not just about monitoring vehicles using electronic radars; it’s turning monitoring tools into smart resources. All of this is done to help public bodies meet the demands of citizens, such as event/incident control, prevention and prediction, information for drivers, and statistical reports that are generated by cross referencing data and the information collected from all the resources that go to make up the system,” he says. “It’s also worth noting that smart cities or complexes are a trend worldwide. They’re part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and are aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he concludes.