National

Urban sensors are often used to monitor illegal activity — from identifying drivers that run red lights to generating predictive crime maps — but they can also collect data for quality-of-life improvements like reducing emissions and preventing car accidents.

The big picture: Municipalities could use anonymized, secure sensor data in combination with advanced computing to better understand how people travel through and use public space, without sacrificing individual privacy.

What’s happening: Academic researchers and urban planners can leverage the latest sensors — including “camera-as-sensor” technologies, which convert a camera’s optical image into an electronic signal — to gather and share insights about roads, intersections and public spaces.

Yes, but: Ensuring the data collected is protected and anonymized will be crucial to earning public trust in these efforts. 

Details: These projects rely on a combination of video streams, computer vision, AI, and edge computing (computing done near the data source, not in the cloud). 

Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University collaborated with Urban Data Eye and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to identify pedestrian movement patterns based on CCTV footage and live-streaming. The project found that furniture and tree placement impact where pedestrians congregate, which could inform planning or redesign decisions.

Platform Pittsburgh, another Metro21 project, analyzed urban video streams to identify frequent sites of near-miss accidents, which could guide the creation of safer intersections. It is also tracking emissions based on images of truck's tailpipes.

Numina has partnered with city planners, mobility companies, and other stakeholders in Jacksonville, Las Vegas and St. Louis to collect and analyze data on the walkability and bike-ability of urban areas using light-post-mounted sensors and computer vision. 

This technology has applications outside urban areas, as well. Project Diversita developed a camera and computing system that can identify over 5,000 different animal species to inform wildlife research and management. 

The bottom line: Applying machine learning and edge computing to sensor and camera data could inform future urban planning initiatives, the allocation of public space, and even conservation efforts.

Karen Lightman is executive director of Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. 

How sensor data can help cities improve public spaces

Current projects analyze near-miss accidents at intersections and track truck emissions.

Technology

Smart cities

Expert Voices

Urban sensors are often used to monitor illegal activity — from <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="identifying drivers that run red lights" data-vars-click-url="https://www.economical.com/en/blog/economical-blog/january-2017/how-red-light-cameras-work-to-prevent-collisions" data-vars-content-id="0b227ed9-84d8-4f81-9b2d-177c0607472c" data-vars-headline="How sensor data can help cities improve public spaces" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.economical.com/en/blog/economical-blog/january-2017/how-red-light-cameras-work-to-prevent-collisions" target="_blank">identifying drivers that run red lights</a> to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="generating predictive crime maps" data-vars-click-url="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-big-data-technology-predict-crime-hotspot-mapping-rusi-report-research-minority-report-a7963706.html" data-vars-content-id="0b227ed9-84d8-4f81-9b2d-177c0607472c" data-vars-headline="How sensor data can help cities improve public spaces" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/police-big-data-technology-predict-crime-hotspot-mapping-rusi-report-research-minority-report-a7963706.html" target="_blank">generating predictive crime maps</a> — but they can also collect data for quality-of-life improvements like reducing emissions and preventing car accidents.The big picture: Municipalities could use anonymized, secure sensor data in combination with advanced computing to better understand how people travel through and use public space, without sacrificing individual privacy.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

As cities invest in technology upgrades, they have an opportunity to reduce light pollution, which impacts 99% of people in the U.S. and Europe.

Why it matters: Pollution is typically thought of as air, water and soil contamination, but light pollution — including from streetlights that cast excessive light — also harms the environment, human health and the stability of the global ecosystem. 

The impact: Light pollution is associated with sleep deprivation, impaired daytime functioning and obesity.

It has also been found to disrupt the migratory and breeding patterns of birds, sea turtles and numerous other species.

Reality check: Unlike air or water pollution, however, light pollution is easily reversible.

What's happening: Cities are making strategic investments, including updating streetlights to reduce the span of light and to replace existing infrastructure with LED technology, which is environmentally friendly and offers cost savings.

Pittsburgh is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University to retrofit the city’s streetlights with LED lights that mimic natural light.

Middletown, Ohio, recently announced a plan to convert 2,000 streetlight heads to LED, which will save the city $359,000 in energy and maintenance costs each year.

In the process of LED conversion, some municipalities, like Wilmington, Del., have also explored retrofitting streetlight fixtures with sensor technology that could collect air quality, weather and noise pollution data. 

But, but, but: LED deployment is not the end-all, be-all solution. At one point, Davis, Calif., inadvertently over-lit the city with LED lights.

And, as is the case with any urban sensor technology, any data collected by new streetlight technology will need to be anonymized and secure.

What to watch: In addition to LED deployment, cities are exploring other tactics to encourage reduce light pollution and encourage energy efficiency.

Asheville, N.C., has an ordinance that limits restaurants' outdoor lighting.  

Hollywood, Fla., has an ordinance requiring oceanfront properties to dim their lights at night to avoid interfering with sea turtle mating and migration patterns.

Karen Lightman is executive director of Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

How cities are cutting down on light pollution

Investments in LED tech and new ordinances aim to rein in nighttime lighting.

View of the U.S. at night with city lights.

View of the U.S. at night. Photo: NASA via Getty Images

Cities

Pollution

As cities invest in technology upgrades, they have an opportunity to reduce light pollution, which <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="impacts" data-vars-click-url="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/e1600377" data-vars-content-id="19875aff-4cee-40ad-bfeb-7f0a83c3d816" data-vars-headline="How cities are cutting down on light pollution" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/e1600377" target="_blank">impacts</a> 99% of people in the U.S. and Europe.Why it matters: Pollution is typically thought of as air, water and soil contamination, but light pollution — including from streetlights that cast excessive light — also harms the environment, human health and the stability of the global ecosystem.

Partnerships between urban and rural municipalities, educational institutions and corporations are beginning to create opportunities to address urban-rural gaps in transit, food security and broadband access. 

Why it matters: The rural-urban divide, particularly with regard to broadband access, boils down to a mismatch in where resources are allocated, and these programs strive to distribute resources beyond urban cores.

By the numbers: According to the OECD, 80% of rural populations live close to cities.

Per the Brookings Institute, only 18% of Americans live in neighborhoods where 80% or more of the households have high-speed broadband. 

According to the nonprofit Feed America, food insecurity affects 2.3 million households in rural communities in the United States, and 84% of the counties with the highest percentage of children at risk for food insecurity are rural.

The Rural Virginia Initiative is a collaboration between several Virginia colleges and universities to bolster attention and resources for issues like health and health care, job creation, and education in rural parts of the state.

The Georgia Smart Communities Challenge is a technical assistance and funding program that brings together various government entities in the state, Georgia Power, researchers at Georgia Tech and more to distribute grants and resources to communities for smart city projects. 

Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and Waynesburg University are collaborating to develop tech-driven interventions to address food insecurity and mobility in nearby rural areas.

Google has partnered with local universities, libraries and other organizations in Kansas City, Austin and Provo to close the digital divide through web access, digital literacy training and other community resources. 

But, but, but: When projects move forward without community input, they can raise concerns about surveillance and data collection, which happened with Sidewalk Labs’ originally proposed smart city in Toronto’s downtown waterfront.

And not every solution is one-size-fits-all. While ride-hailing services have helped to fill gaps in the urban transportation infrastructure, lower demand, longer drives and inconsistent cell service make ride-hailing a less attractive option in rural areas.

The bottom line: Urban-rural partnerships can provide municipalities the resources in areas that would otherwise not receive commercial investment.

Urban-rural partnerships spread resources beyond city centers

The rural-urban divide boils down to a mismatch in where resources are allocated.

A wireless signal symbol shining over a suburban landscape

Rural America

Partnerships between urban and rural municipalities, educational institutions and corporations are beginning to create opportunities to address urban-rural gaps in transit, food security and broadband access. Why it matters: The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="rural-urban divide" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/upshot/america-political-divide-urban-rural.html" data-vars-content-id="2413f690-10b2-4fd4-92db-e5aec5df18b7" data-vars-headline="Urban-rural partnerships spread resources beyond city centers" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/upshot/america-political-divide-urban-rural.html" target="_blank">rural-urban divide</a>, particularly with regard to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="broadband access" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-deep-dives-301b96de-cd85-474a-a587-aa954aaaf7d1.html" data-vars-content-id="2413f690-10b2-4fd4-92db-e5aec5df18b7" data-vars-headline="Urban-rural partnerships spread resources beyond city centers" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-deep-dives-301b96de-cd85-474a-a587-aa954aaaf7d1.html" target="_self">broadband access</a>, boils down to a mismatch in where resources are allocated, and these programs strive to distribute resources beyond urban cores.

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Weather-related natural disasters are on the rise, and AVs could become powerful tools for activating response systems and for collecting and sharing data, news and warnings.

Why it matters: Connected AVs could contribute to new emergency response networks by disseminating critical information, routing people away from disasters and possibly even dispatching emergency AVs on optimized routes. 

Background: Fully autonomous vehicles will need to do advanced computing onboard to synthesize sensor data, run self-driving software, and communicate with other vehicles, objects and systems in real time. That technology could potentially collect and transmit data on driving conditions and disaster reporting as well.  

Where it stands: Early iterations of these systems exist, but typically run on smartphones or other connected devices brought into the car to supplement current vehicle capabilities. Eventually, this technology could be embedded directly in AVs, making it possible for autonomous vehicles to respond immediately to events. 

Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University has used dashboard mounted smartphones to collect and assess images of hillsides to track and anticipate landslides. This technology could be used to predict landslides and route vehicles around them. 

Israel's United Hatzalah has developed technology that alerts emergency responders within a certain radius and optimizes ambulance routes. It was used during the Gorkha earthquake in Nepal and Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. 

The Wyoming Connected Vehicle Pilot project uses vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity run on mobile devices to broadcast storm alerts and road conditions on I-90. 

Waze has partnered with a software company to develop a real-time crash alert system and with the Israeli city of Ramat Gan to facilitate safer evacuations during earthquakes. After a highway bridge collapse in Atlanta, Georgia, Waze leveraged their mobile app to provide updates to local users.

The bottom line: Some of the benefits of this technology could be available in the near term in connected cars, but autonomous vehicles could ultimately offer optimized responsiveness and passenger safety during storms and natural disasters.

How AVs could help respond to disasters

They could collect and share data on road conditions and route people away from danger.

Image of a cloud symbol in red linked to flashing symbols of cars in red

Transportation

Safety

Future

Weather-related natural disasters are <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="on the rise" data-vars-click-url="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/08/29/weather-related-disasters-are-increasing" data-vars-content-id="9ece1429-b902-4927-91d7-2440688ea131" data-vars-headline="How AVs could help respond to disasters" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/08/29/weather-related-disasters-are-increasing" target="_blank">on the rise</a>, and AVs could become powerful tools for activating response systems and for collecting and sharing data, news and warnings.Why it matters: Connected AVs could contribute to new emergency response networks by disseminating critical information, routing people away from disasters and possibly even dispatching emergency AVs on optimized routes.

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Science

Implementing automation at airport bottlenecks could expedite drop-off, check-in, security, and boarding for flyers and employees. 

Why it matters: Between 2016 and 2019, the number of passengers using U.S. airlines has increased by 10.9%. Last year, 1 in 7 travelers in the U.S. missed a flight due to long security lines. 

Transportation authorities, airlines, tech companies, and others are experimenting with ways to automate and streamline airport pain points. 

Curbside pick-up and drop-off: Ride-hailing services account for 62% of airport transportation for business travel, leading to increased congestion. 

In response, airports are contemplating using AVs to reduce low-occupancy vehicle traffic, including a shuttle-type AV pilot at Denver International Airport.

Check in: Many airports have self-serve “bag-drop” systems, where passengers interact with airport staff to confirm passenger identity. Delta Airlines is experimenting with automated biometric check-in screens that use facial recognition.

Security: The TSA allocated $71.5 million for adding more than 145 machine learning–based CT scanners into security checkpoints to expedite carry-on baggage inspections.

The further expansion of this technology could automate the detection of firearms, knives, explosives, lithium ion batteries and other prohibited items.

Metro21: Smart Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and the Pittsburgh International Airport developed a model for estimating security wait times and distributing passengers across checkpoints.

Boarding: Since the 1970s, boarding times have more than doubled. 

IT provider Amadeus developed a biometric boarding procedure that uses facial recognition to reduce boarding processing time by 75%. 

The Design Doing Collaboration developed a mobile app that automates flight delay and gate reassignment updates. 

The impact: Automation of these processes could lead to job losses, but could also reduce TSA employee turnover.

The Department of Homeland Security has found that overwork and staffing shortages at security checkpoints were a major cause of TSA employee attrition.

Automation could expedite processes and fill gaps in staffing, potentially improving employee morale and retention.

The bottom line: Most major airports are projected to experience “Thanksgiving-peak traffic volume” at least once each week this year, and these technologies could potentially help alleviate the worst bottlenecks.

How automation could make airports more efficient

New systems could streamline curbside drop-off, security, boarding and more.

Passengers queue up outside a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Ronald Reagan National Airport

A security checkpoint at Reagan National Airport. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Automation

Automation and AI

Implementing automation at airport bottlenecks could expedite drop-off, check-in, security, and boarding for flyers and employees. Why it matters: Between 2016 and 2019, the number of passengers using U.S. airlines has <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="increased by 10.9%" data-vars-click-url="https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/estimated-january-2019-us-airline-traffic-data" data-vars-content-id="a76b7e39-27c0-41ca-956d-17d035edb22d" data-vars-headline="How automation could make airports more efficient" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/estimated-january-2019-us-airline-traffic-data" target="_blank">increased by 10.9%</a>. Last year, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="1 in 7 travelers" data-vars-click-url="https://www.forbes.com/sites/garystoller/2018/06/26/one-of-every-seven-travelers-miss-their-flights-because-of-long-airport-security-lines/#55ef0a352e1d" data-vars-content-id="a76b7e39-27c0-41ca-956d-17d035edb22d" data-vars-headline="How automation could make airports more efficient" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/garystoller/2018/06/26/one-of-every-seven-travelers-miss-their-flights-because-of-long-airport-security-lines/#55ef0a352e1d" target="_blank">1 in 7 travelers</a> in the U.S. missed a flight due to long security lines.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Karen Lightman

Stories

Urban-rural partnerships spread resources beyond city centers

How cities are cutting down on light pollution

How automation could make airports more efficient

How AVs could help respond to disasters

How sensor data can help cities improve public spaces