New technologies for a smarter city – Canoeing

MONTREAL – The City of Montreal would benefit from further automate its transport and surveillance systems if it is to improve traffic flow and better secure the population

This is what several speakers who believe. spoke at the Smart City exhibition in Montreal last week, where several experts and companies have offered ideas and technologies that enable cities to manage smarter infrastructure and services.

Although the City has just opened its first Urban Mobility Management Centre (CGMU), which will have 500 cameras and real-time management of many traffic lights, Martin Rivest, Head of Technology and Innovation at the company Thales believes that Montreal could do more.

As did the French city of Strasbourg there a few years ago, it boasts of installing sensors in new cameras CGMU and the roadway to detect the flow of traffic. With this data, the City can analyze the habits of motorists and make the necessary adjustments on the road network to reduce congestion.

Other sensors can be used to monitor the condition of its structures and identify weaknesses, allowing city departments to make repairs preventively before the infrastructure is deteriorating too.

“These instruments can even be used to locate vacant parking spaces, which is difficult in almost all major cities. The more information we have in our hands as we can optimize the flow, “Mr. Rivest said.

Securing the City

In 2009, Mexico City launched a $ 400 million project to automate a number of public safety tools and tackle crime.

Thanks in 15 000 new security cameras, sensors shots, license plate readers, and five new command centers, the response time of emergency services from 12 minutes two minutes and the crime rate has dropped by over 12% in the Mexican capital.

According to experts, similar technologies in Montreal allow service order to better manage the security during ‘ major events such as sporting events or outdoor concerts.

With cameras equipped with incidents recognition systems, a command center can pinpoint problems faster and immediately alert the police on the ground, for example.

“Securing activities such as the Jazz Festival requires a complex logistics, sometimes it looks like crisis management,” said Mr. Rivest.

It also believes that the city could benefit from major savings as a better automated management of public security would reduce the number of agents assigned to monitor the field.