“We know that mobility comes in all shapes and sizes, including buses, scooters, walkers, runners and cyclists—we need to address and support municipalities and cities and agencies to help deliver an integrated mobility plan,” was what Mike Duench, VP of Marketing at Miovision, told Cities Today in a recent interview.
The publication, whose mantra is “connecting the world’s urban leaders,” spoke to Duench as Miovision’s platform continues to provide cities with actionable data and insights that enhance their traffic management initiatives.
In the interview, Duench spoke about traffic management, sustainability, and, of course, the technology at the core of the Miovision platform. Keep reading to learn how video data is enhancing urban safety and sustainability.
How Data and Technology Can Help
Miovision’s products collect video and data on how people move within a city.
While this allows us to set up a partnership for traffic, contributing to sustainability and green teams within municipal departments. Ultimately, our goal is to support all aspects of road networks.
“[Miovision tech] can support your smart city initiatives,” Duench said. “It can support your police, fire, and ambulance department. It can support your transit and bus services.”
In Kyle, Texas, the local police department adopted Miovision’s Opticom solution to help their emergency vehicles move to and from accidents more efficiently.
This Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) technology helps better align traffic signals to give officers a green light when they need it. It makes intersections safer for them as well as pedestrians. In Kyle, it reduced on-route accidents down to zero.
“[Opticom] increased the confidence of those emergency vehicle responders to move quickly and deliberately through that corridor without having to worry about a traffic light or somebody moving through a traffic court,” Duench explained.
Miovision tech is empowering first responders to help save lives.
Several Cities Are Seeing Multiple Benefits
In the city of Peterborough, we partnered with traffic officials to implement our Miovision One Performance solution at roughly 70 intersections.
The benefits paid immediate dividends, both for traffic flow and in supporting sustainability efforts. The data gathered helped cars move more efficiently while also reducing the equivalent of 70 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year at each intersection.
“What [Performance] allows them to do is think differently about how they’re actually leveraging, capturing, and tracking their own accountability to the environment,” Duench said.
He sees the potential for Peterborough traffic officials to “make a meaningful impact” on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by cutting down on idling and congestion—the possibilities are endless for inclined cities.
“A city that’s motivated [will] not only benefit from a traffic outcome, but also a sustainability or green outcome that will connect both of those departments and allow them both to benefit from an integrated offering from Miovision,” he added.
Peterborough is one of several cities seeing the benefits.
Addressing Data-Related Concerns
We live in the age of information. Most people are aware of this, and they are also aware that not everyone uses it for good—even public officials. As such, Duench understandably acknowledges the risks associated with using data.
“Data, when you’re using it, is really powerful, but you have to be mindful of the community’s perception of what you’re doing with that information,” he said.
He spoke about the importance of intent. In the case of Miovision and the traffic officials we work with, the purpose of collecting data is to help people move more safely and efficiently. It’s about reducing bike accidents and collisions on the road. It’s being used to help ambulances get where they’re needed when they’re needed. Those are causes people will support.
“Capturing an amount of data that’s commensurate to solving that problem is okay, as long as you do it the right way,” he said.
Miovision houses its data in a fortified AWS Mainframe in the United States to ensure data is being collected purposefully with the goal of benefiting the community.
Best Practices For Cities
Cities need to make the different traffic departments and officials within their municipalities excited about working on a unified platform. They need to foster a sense of excitement toward working together to deliver real change for their community.
As such, building this excitement requires a clear understanding of the ins and outs of the platform and the data being collected and used. Duench doesn’t believe communicating this information needs to be complicated.
“The best practice is to find a friend or phone a friend and make sure that they can really understand how the information will be moving,” he explained.
Meaningful narratives build excitement and drive change.
“Set the governance of that early so [your people are] telling a really good story when it goes up the chain to the various levels of government for approval.”
Ultimately, the results speak for themselves. Cities only need to ensure everyone with stakes in the decision-making process has access to them.
Unlock Data-Driven Solutions With Miovision
Video data powered by the Miovision platform continues to prove itself as the best way to support urban safety and road-related sustainability initiatives. Everyone, from first responders to pedestrians, benefits from our network of solutions.
We strongly encourage you to speak to a Miovision sales representative if your municipality is ready to take action and create a brighter traffic future. They’ll happily answer any questions and find the right tech for your roads.