- Smart city technology makes citizens safer.
- Emergency vehicles faster to incidents.
- Public transport performance improves.
Congested city streets may be the cause of much frustration, but the irritation of running late or the occasional missed appointment pale into insignificance beside the effects of congestion on emergency vehicles in snarled-up traffic. Police, fire, and ambulance traffic need and should have priority in built-up areas – and smart technology is increasingly enabling that to happen.
The safer smart city
Last year, emergency vehicles equipped with Applied Information’s Glance preemption system went on more than 1.3 million emergency visits, automatically activating 4.3 million green lights during their journeys, allowing service vehicles to pass through junctions without stopping.
According to figures released by the company, over 13,000 hours were saved on the road by police, ambulance, and fire services in the US last year, and reduced response times by an average of 18%.
The preemption solution was designed to lower the number of accidents involving the public and emergency service vehicles by ensuring a sequence of green traffic lights along a vehicle’s route, stopping other traffic to clear the way, and so preventing delays.
Fire Chief Tim Milligan, based in Marietta, Georgia, said, “In addition to the time savings, our responses are safer for […] firefighters and the public. […] Having all opposing traffic stopped by the time the fire apparatus arrives at an intersection eliminates the potential for accidents, which we see demonstrated daily.”
There are a number of road accidents involving emergency vehicles annually, perhaps not surprising given the inherent need for speed to reach emergency incident sites. According to the National Fire Protection Association, fire department emergency vehicles were involved in 19,225 collisions in 2023, resulting in 1,450 injuries. The Glance system was developed to reduce these numbers, improve emergency service response times, and increase safety for other road users.
Public transport priority
Public transport can benefit from smart city technology. In 2024, vehicles carrying passengers using the Glance Transit Signal Priority (TSP) avoided nine million unscheduled stops during approximately 5.1 million journeys. By prioritising transit vehicles at traffic lights, the Glance system helps reduce delays for millions of commuters.
President of Applied Information Inc., Bryan Mulligan, highlighted the positive impact the Glance system has had: “We know Glance helps first responders save lives and improves the quality of life for those who rely on public transit. This data lays out in numbers the improvements to daily life that this technology can bring about when working with our partner agencies across North America.”
Mike Tremblay, Director of Transit Development at Greater Portland Metro in Portland, Maine, said there were several benefits to technology that begins, at least, to put the ‘smart’ into smart city.
“Glance Transit Signal Priority helps to provide more reliable on-time performance. […] And, avoiding unnecessary stops at traffic signals saves fuel, reduces emissions, and wear and tear on our vehicles.”
Unlike devices fitted to emergency services that turn red lights green on approach, buses supplied with a vehicle communications unit can shorten the time of a red-light sequence and extend how long the lights stay green.
Plus, geo-location technology built-into the TSP gives operators information about exactly where the fleet’s vehicles are. That’s essential information for emergency services, but can have significant impact on public transport systems too: Perhaps, in our lifetimes, passengers will not have to complain that after long roadside waits, three buses appear at once.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jarek Tuszyński
Quelle/Source: TechHQ, 13.01.2025
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