In our last article, we gave some insight as to why Jacksonville has been able to become a smart city leader. Now that we have covered the why behind Jacksonville’s gains in being a smart city, we will talk about the what. Jacksonville is one of the top cities in the United States implementing these smart city initiatives and here is what we are doing. The big three initiatives in Jacksonville are: The Bay Jax, U2C, and IDE.
The Bay Jax
Bay Street in downtown Jacksonville is the first truly smart corridor that reaches from TIAA Bank Stadium to the other end of Bay Street. Within this smart corridor we see the integration of a lot of different technologies like 5G
and secure radio communications between traffic signals. There are a lot of local agencies who have stake in this project, like the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO) and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD). The Bay Jax has been able to and is still pulling agencies together to talk and share data. Without communications between different public entities, projects like this couldn’t happen.
For more information on The Bay Jax visit: http://thebayjax.com/
or watch at: http://thebayjax.com/#video
U2C
U2C (Ultimate Urban Circulator) is JTA’s (Jacksonville Transportation Authority) driverless car initiative to modernize and expand the skyway. The monorail system which began its construction in the 1970’s will now be replaced by this driverless car initiative. This progress in technology with mass autonomous transit will be able to fulfill the dream that Jacksonville originally saw for the skyway. The autonomous vehicles are currently going through public acceptance and disabilities testing.
For more information on the U2C project visit: https://u2c.jtafla.com/
or watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKuta_hPRWU
IDE
The integrated data exchange (IDE) allows for data as far north as Brunswick to as far south as St. Augustine to be put together in this middle transparent level that the public has access too. In previous articles, we have covered the importance of making data useful. The IDE uses new systems and many currently existing systems to be able to provide the public with useful data. For example, every bridge in the city as a wind speed detector on it that automatically knows when, in storm conditions, it needs to be shut down due to too high of wind speeds. The IDE enables that information to be communicated in a transparent way that the public could access from their smartphone.
For more on the IDE visit: https://www.changindustrial.com/post/insights-on-data-s-role-in-a-smart-city-interview-with-drew-messer or https://www.urbansdk.com/
Jacksonville is one of the smart city leaders and these projects have put us on top. There are many things that play into smart cities. We have covered the why behind Jacksonville becoming one of the nation’s leaders, and now, we have covered the what behind Jacksonville’s smart city initiatives. Stay tuned for our upcoming articles on the how behind Jacksonville making all of these things happen.