Page 10 - April 2018 Disruption Report Flip Book

SMART CITIES
JAANPURAILRY20210818
“People have been trying to build the city of the future for more than 100 years,” says Rit Aggarwala, the executive in charge of Sidewalk’s urban-systems planning. “But we really want to tap into [Toronto’s] existing vitality and character. All of our thinking and decisions on Quayside are shaped by the question ‘What do 21st-century technologies enable us to do better?’
In this redefined urban life, autonomous cars will play a big role in reinventing urban living, saving families a projected $6,000 a year. Sidewalk envisions driverless shuttle buses replacing private cars and traffic lights tracking the flow of pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles. Mail and garbage services will be delivered to residents by robots by underground tunnels. Sensors will be installed to measure everything from building occupancy to sewage flow rates and the volume of public waste. And the community will utilize modular buildings, which can be expanded to accommodate growing companies and families. Information from sensors will run this smart city, collecting data to fuel a virtual model that allows city planners to test infrastructure changes quickly and at a low cost.
In the Quayside project, Sidewalk proposes to build an entire neighborhood “from the Internet up.” Sidewalk’s Coord will serve as the pilot’s data platform that provides real-time information about the community. Coord will provide software developers with access to APIs (e.g., code designed to be easy for other computer systems to talk to) for data on tolls, curbs, and parking with more options like bike-share to come. Ultimately, Sidewalk expects 80% of the work on Quayside to involve third parties.
Sidewalk’s Stephen Smyth wrote:
By serving as the coordination layer for new mobility services, navigation tools, and urban infrastructure, Coord can help unlock a seamless trip experience for people in cities and inspire new solutions to urban mobility challenges. Coord can help a ride-hail service reduce curbside congestion by enabling it to locate a legal pick-up or drop-off zone. It can help a navigation app feature trip options that users can book in-app, including a nearby bike- share dock. It can help a car-share service bill members for tolls in real-time, giving people a better sense of the true cost of their trip.
As we look to the future of urban transportation, we see a world of truly coordinated trip options. Digital navigation tools will show people real-time options and prices across all travel modes. You will be able to organize these options based on what’s important to you, whether that’s cost, travel time, environmental impact, or some other measure. They will help integrate the separate fare or payment technologies often needed across a system, making it possible to find a parking garage and pay the fee without leaving your car. They will empower cities to create and enforce rules around curb usage, encourage vehicle sharing, and repurpose excess parking space for other
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