Falls Church, VA, working with Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute (VTTI) Division for Technology Implementation, has begun its first phase of its smart cities program.
VTTI will lead the project to transform the city into a living laboratory by deploying advanced technologies to address city and community needs. The city received a $10m grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia, which will be used to: conduct a comprehensive analysis of the city’s and community’s specific needs; identify and select technologies that can effectively address these needs; implement these technologies in a real-world environment within the city; evaluate the impact of these technologies on the environment, safety, and quality of life from the residents’ perspective; and develop foundational standards for future smart city initiatives.
“This innovative technology will improve pedestrian safety, reduce conflicts between vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists with cars, improve traffic flow and congestion, reduce energy usage, and lower maintenance costs,” said Letty Hardi, mayor of Falls Church. “Innovations like these come at a pivotal moment for Falls Church as we continue making big investments in a more walkable, bikeable, and safer city.”
Some of the technologies to be tested include: signal timings that change based on real-time roadway conditions; smart intersections that can detect pedestrians; and adaptive street lighting that dims based on twilight hours, environmental conditions, and motion. The first technology implementation involves modernizing the city’s traffic control systems to provide a foundation onto which additional smart technologies can be applied. The upgraded traffic control systems aim to help improve pedestrian safety, reduce conflicts between cars and bike/foot traffic, improve traffic flow, and save the city money through better energy and maintenance efficiency.
“VTTI is proud to be working hand in hand with the City of Falls Church, VDOT [Virginia Department of Transportation], and our industry partners to bring modern traffic signal control technologies to the area,” said Mike Mollenhauer, VTTI’s principal investigator on the project. “These systems will allow for more intelligent intersection control that will improve safety and traffic flow through the city’s main corridors. We look forward to continued cooperation with Falls Church as we help them deploy adaptive lighting, smart parking, and other smart cities technologies in the near future.”