The Motor City Never Stalls: Detroit’s Mobility Evolution With Miovision

Detroit has long been a city leading transformative innovations in transportation and modes of mobility.

It was coined “The Motor City” in the early 20th century as Ford led an automotive revolution that changed the world. People from all over answered the call to build the cars of tomorrow, incentivized by high wages and a five-day workweek.

Detroit’s Woodward Avenue is one of America’s most iconic roadway as the country’s first paved road and location of the first four-way stoplight.

Today, the City of Detroit continues to lead the future of the mobility industry as it embraces the evolution of sustainable energy use. The city has primed itself as ground zero for the electric vehicle revolution as the Big Three automotive manufacturers continue to roll out hybrid and electric vehicles. Laying the groundwork for what is to come, the city is redeveloping its infrastructure to support the rise of EVs and fostering a hub of entrepreneurs to pilot and permit projects.

Now, there is an opportunity for revitalization as the city addresses aging infrastructure, creating more efficient systems, and the allocation of resources to ensure dependable and streamlined transportation.

Locals struggle to get to work and school on time. Emergency vehicles are slowed down by signal dysfunction. Public transportation—supposed to serve everyone equally—has too often left underserved communities waiting at the station. Citizens have taken an active role in raising awareness among traffic officials about these challenges, catalyzing positive change that can significantly improve their lives.

While the situation presented clear challenges for Detroiters, the city’s residents and visitors have proved their perseverance and resourcefulness time and time again.

Their traffic flow is multifaceted, with many locals opting to do their part for the environment by biking or traveling via rideshare. As such, our solution needed to support all forms of travel, improving outcomes for everyone in the city.

Detroit’s traffic professionals painted us a picture of its future we believed in. This fast-moving border-crossing city, a perpetual innovator famously home to the first stoplight, is forever brimming with potential. They gave us the green light to make history again.

Now, let us show you what we accomplished together.

How Miovision is Transforming Road Safety in Detroit

Speeding drivers, congested intersections, and disconnected signals—we optimized Detroit’s traffic networks to create a safer transportation experience.

75% reduction in time to resolve traffic signal issues

20% reduction in maintenance costs on traffic signals

30% reduction in travel times at major intersections

20% reduction in emergency response times

The potential for positive change in Detroit’s transportation network emerged in the summer of 2020, as city leaders recognized an opportunity for improvement following a temporary increase in fatal vehicle-related accidents. With the well-being of its residents and visitors in mind, the city sought to enhance road safety across the city—whether traveling by car, bicycle, or on foot.

The way forward involved building an ecosystem that enabled Detroit to modernize its existing infrastructure. The current system was draining resources, leaving traffic operators struggling to maintain an effective network. However, the necessary changes could not be implemented without the right data and tools.

So they partnered with us.

The Miovision platform uses real-time multimodal data to help traffic teams get more out of their studies and provide actionable insight. We provide cities like Detroit with cutting-edge hardware and software to solve traffic problems for their people.
Our vision is clear: smarter, safer, and more accessible roads for all.

Identifying A Disconnect in Efficiencies

Detroit’s traffic professionals came to us with hope. They believed in finding solutions to make their city smarter and their roads safer and more accessible for drivers, bikers, walkers, and everyone in between.

We knew they’d need a customized solution to solve the spikes in serious crashes, persistent traffic signal issues, as well as accessibility and economic barriers. Many of these issues could be traced back to unreliable signals.

Detroit lacked effective in-ground connectivity when compared to other major cities, making cross-device communication more difficult than necessary. This frequently left their hard-working professionals unaware of issues they could otherwise fix.

With a majority of their traffic budget devoted to manual signal checking and repairs, minimal funds were left to address emergency response times and public transit reliability. Together, we realized how solving these immediate issues could unlock the potential for larger-scale solutions. This led us to reimagine the performance of urban intersections.

Immediate Solutions to Long-Term Innovation

Miovision succeeded by being equal parts proactive and reactive.

What started as a small-scale initiative to solve the immediate problems related to disconnected traffic signals has since evolved into a city-wide mission involving other key departments. We’re building a smarter city—one intersection at a time.

Miovision Performance laid the groundwork for how intersections can function more effectively. This revolutionary platform refined Detroit’s data collection process, helping them solve 10x more traffic problems without needing to increase their team size or budget tenfold.

We transformed Detroit’s operations by:

Connecting cabinets through remote diagnosis and monitoring

Producing analytics that identifies problems—traffic and pedestrian

Sending real-time alerts about issues as they arise

Helping quantify improvements using categorical data

Additionally, the systems we implemented in Detroit’s optimized intersections track both driver and pedestrian data to inform systems accordingly.

For example, our system can recognize when a pedestrian or cyclist is in a dilemma zone and extend the green timer to give them adequate time to cross the road. By creating these pedestrian heat maps, we’ve generated a blueprint for intersection monitoring that keeps everyone safe no matter how they choose to move.

Best of all is how these changes have opened the door to future innovation. The Miovision Adaptive platform is built on open architecture—the city’s best and brightest have more tools at their disposal than ever to reimagine their roads.

Additionally, the systems we implemented in Detroit’s optimized intersections track both driver and pedestrian data to inform systems accordingly.

For example, our system can recognize when a pedestrian or cyclist is in a dilemma zone and extend the green timer to give them adequate time to cross the road. By creating these pedestrian heat maps, we’ve generated a blueprint for intersection monitoring that keeps everyone safe no matter how they choose to move.

Best of all is how these changes have opened the door to future innovation. The Miovision Adaptive platform is built on open architecture—the city’s best and brightest have more tools at their disposal than ever to reimagine their roads.

A Better Detroit For Detroiters

Innovative traffic management solutions have transformed the city's streets. Through strategic implementation and cutting-edge technology, Miovision has significantly improved traffic flow, reduced congestion, and enhanced safety for Detroit's residents and visitors alike. Explore the numbers behind our partnership with the Motor City, demonstrating tangible improvements that are making Detroit a better, safer place to live, work, and thrive.

75%

reduction in time to resolve traffic signal issues

20%

reduction in maintenance costs on traffic signals

30%

reduction in travel times at major intersections

20%

reduction in emergency response times

The results speak for themselves: our reimagined intersections paved the way for Detroit to completely overhaul its traffic networks for the better. We’ve laid the groundwork for a smarter, safer, and more efficient transportation framework.

With the help of the Miovision platform, traffic signal issues can now be resolved in less than two hours. This 75% decrease in time is correlated with a 20% reduction in maintenance costs as upkeep work becomes more streamlined.

Optimization of signals cut travel times at major intersections by 30%, getting people where they need to go faster. Reducing congestion is better for the environment and promotes more orderly conduct on the road to improve safety, as well. This will be especially beneficial for bicycle travelers as well as those using rideshares.

Perhaps most importantly, our preemptive signaling systems shortened emergency response times by 20%. This has opened new doors for the city’s dedicated first responders, granting them more opportunities to help those in need.

Together, Miovision worked with the City of Detroit to improve the city’s traffic infrastructure and proactively resolve safety concerns. Together, we’ve provided a safer and more welcoming traveling experience for residents and visitors.

I love this city. You know, I’m born and raised. I will never leave this city. She’s a beautiful place.

Briante Houston
Detroit Resident

Keep Your City Moving With Miovision

The work we did in Detroit is just beginning. The time is now to learn how Miovision’s platform and technology can reimagine your city’s streets.

Our tools are flexible and adaptable. We’ll work together to conduct traffic studies that identify and solve your city’s vulnerabilities. We’re confident in our system’s ability to produce data that informs actionable solutions, no matter the existing framework. Infrastructure challenges come in all shapes and sizes—the Miovision platform is built to fit them all.

Speak to a Miovision representative today to learn more about what we can do for your city. We can’t wait to work with you.

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