Smart City Challenge uses data to make streets safer

By: Brent Rogerson (Sales Engineer) | Oct 26, 2021
Smart City Challenge - Miovision

A great example of that in action is our customer in West Lafayette. The city is home to Purdue University, which has a well-respected transportation engineering program. West Lafayette is partnering with the school’s Innovation Partners Institute at the Purdue Research Foundation to present the West Lafayette Smart City Challenge – a competition to see what kind of innovative solutions students, faculty and start-ups can come up with to improve traffic safety in a key area of West Lafayette. 

The participants are challenged “to develop a scalable Internet of Things solution and/or software application to improve safety for vulnerable road users who navigate high-traffic corridors,” specifically an area called the Discovery Park District. This area is part of the Purdue campus and sees highly variable traffic. The local population nearly doubles every fall through spring as students return to Purdue. And, through the year, concerts, festivals and football games bring event-based traffic to the area. 

So, what’s all this have to do with Miovision?

We’re deployed at 20 intersections in West Lafayette and the city will allow participants to access data generated through our Open API to gain access to traffic counts, signal telemetry and counts. Participants can use this data, combine it with other data, and propose ways to improve safety for vulnerable road users – like students walking around the campus area.