City of Austin jumps in bed with NTT Data for smart city project

While some of the buzz surrounding smart cities has quietened, NTT Data is boasting of a new initiative with the City of Austin to address traffic-related issues.

Initially focused on easing congestion through the Texan city, the initiative could be expanded to numerous other areas for traffic management. This is a very small trial for the moment, focused on intersections of Cesar Chavez Street and Trinity Street and Neches Street and 8th Street, though additional locations will be added in time.

“We are piloting NTT because these solutions have the potential to help Austin digitally transform how people move safely through the city,” said Jason JonMichael, Assistant Director of Smart Mobility at Austin Transportation. “By better understanding the data and causal effects of problems we see in challenging areas, we can develop effective solutions that meet the community’s needs.

“Evaluating data is key to reaching our Vision Zero goal of eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on Austin roadways. Smart technologies like this one will help us prioritize improvements to make our streets safer.”

Using NTT’s Accelerate Smart data platform, the project will collect traffic-related and mobility data through vehicle counting and classification, as well as wrong way vehicle occurrences. The project will allow for the delivery of real-time alerts and traffic statistics that improve predictions, traffic management and future infrastructure planning.

This initiative ties into the overarching Vision Zero project in the city, to end deaths and serious injuries on Austin roadways. The majority of these projects are civil engineering based, adding a second left-turn lane to Slaughter Lane at South 1st Street for example, but all are underpinned by data collection and analysis.

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