Dallas’ First Test Bed for Smart‑City Transit Tech Receives Funding Through $4M Federal Grant
Source: Dallas Innovates Published: January 21st, 2021
The U.S. federal government has awarded the City of Dallas $4 million in funding to effectively greenlight the city’s first test bed for smart-transit technology.
A 1.5-mile stretch of the S.M. Wright Highway is already being rebuilt into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard; a far cry from an elevated, six-lane highway complete with a dead-man’s curve. Like many highways, the S.M. Wright has divided a low-income, minority neighborhood since the 1950s.
The U.S. Department of Transportation grant, which was announced on Dec. 31, was key to injecting advanced smart-traffic capabilities into that stretch of road, according to Ghassan Khankarli, interim director of the City of Dallas’ department of transportation.
Key outcomes for both the physical reconstruction and technological improvements will be to improve pedestrian safety while improving traffic flow. While plans for the physical changes to the road have been set, the extent of the technological installations are not.
“Definitely, as we start getting this project off the ground, we’re going to have to start refining what the scope is going to be,” Khankarli said. Possibilities include:
connected-vehicle technologies that allow traffic signal controllers to communicate with vehicles, to better synchronize traffic lights, and inform drivers about impending traffic-signal changes;
pedestrian crosswalk buttons that are activated by the presence of pedestrians, rather than by touch;
smart-transit bus shelters that inform riders of estimated times of arrival, Wi-Fi and charging ports; and
connected-vehicle tech that will give emergency vehicles and/or buses priority to pass through intersections.
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Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash