AT projects finalists in Smart City Awards

05/03/2021 01:11 am

Three Auckland Transport projects are being recognised on the world stage. The trio of projects are finalists in this year’s Smart City Asia Pacific Awards which highlight changes making cities more liveable.

AT’s Chief Executive Shane Ellison says this is fantastic recognition for AT and its people. “It’s great to make the finals in these prestigious awards, it’s been a remarkably challenging year and making three finals is a great boost.

“We are competing against projects from cities in three of Asia’s most technologically advanced countries South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.”

The three projects involve AT’s rapid digital response to the transport challenges during lockdown and the Smart Street Pilot (in conjunction with Spark) and Auckland’s work around automated enforcement of transit lanes.

The rapid digital response project is a world first. Using live data from AT HOP cards, it was introduced during Alert Level 4 (Covid-19 lockdown measures). It means customers are able to see how full their bus is in real-time, through the AT Mobile app.

"We already knew how many people were on our buses, so we quickly designed and built a new version of the app to share this information with our customers," says Mr Ellison.

“Anyone can quickly check the app before getting on the bus to ensure there’s enough room on board to physically distance. We think that makes people feel more confident about using public transport during the pandemic.”

Our research shows 61 per cent of customers used this addition to the app to help them plan their journey, with 70 per cent rating the app 8 or more out of 10.

In the Smart Street Pilot, Spark and AT have installed internet enabled infrastructure at Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter - including 5G connected lighting, smart seating benches where you can charge your mobile and parking sensors.

“There even sensors in the rubbish bins so a real-time alert is sent when they need to be emptied so no more over-flowing bins.”

Smart lighting has also been installed in the surrounding streets of Wynyard Quarter’s Innovation Precinct, they can generate heat maps of foot traffic to help identify choke points as well as monitor air and noise pollution.

The transit lane project means bus and transit lanes can be monitored remotely. “This lets AT check bus and transit lanes from a central point. We can apply the road rules consistently using wireless cameras.”

Mr Ellison says the three AT projects all meet the criteria of Smart Cities which is to focus on using emerging technologies and innovation to make cities more liveable.

Full list of finalists

Transport infrastructure

Auckland Transport, Auckland – Automated Transit Lane Enforcement;
Daegu Metropolitan City Government, South Korea – Small Electric Mobility Smart Charging / Parking Station;
Hangzhou Government, China – Xiaoshan Traffic Brain Intelligent Transportation Project;
Tainan City Government, Taiwan – Tainan Smart Parking Integration System;
Qlue Smart City, Indonesia – Intelligent Mobility System.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, Public Transit, Ride-Hailing/Ride-Sharing

Auckland Transport, New Zealand – Rapid Digital Response to the Lockdown's Transport Challenges;
Guangzhou City Government, China – Autonomous Driving and Connected Road;
Sejong City Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, South Korea – Self-Driving Shuttle Taxi;
Taipei City Government, Taiwan – Self-Driving, Autonomous Learning Buses;
Thane Smart City, India – Intelligent Transport System.

Sustainable infrastructure

Auckland Transport and Spark, New Zealand – Smart Street Pilot;
Government Technology Agency of Singapore – Integrated Environment System;
New Taipei City Government, Taiwan – iRoad Smart Cloud Road Information Center;
Shenzhen Special Administrative Region, China – Shenzhen Smart Environmental Protection Platform;
Bali Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia – Smart Forest Guardian.