The city of Las Vegas, Nevada is working with US-based telecom company Cox Communications on a six-month pilot project to test curbside parking management kiosks – with the goal of reducing downtown traffic congestion. The kiosks will use video analytics and smart parking technology in an attempt to better manage curb loading zones for taxis and rideshares.
The video analytic technology will capture vehicle and license plate information and send the data to the kiosks to initiate a countdown timer. If a vehicle remains in the loading zone after the countdown ends, the system reports the incident directly to the city for response.
Cox2M – the connected asset services division of Cox Communications – is providing a platform on the back-end that performs cloud processing of traffic flow information, an on-screen interface to display vehicle information, and an online portal to report traffic flows and pedestrian counts.
Cox2M and smart communities vice-president Barak Weinisman said: “Installing the kerbside management kiosks demonstrates the innovation that Las Vegas is pursuing to create a smarter ecosystem for visitors and residents. We look forward to working with the city to help ease traffic flow and showcase how kiosks can enable visitor engagement.”
It has been estimated that the city was spending $60,000 US per month to have officers control the traffic. Cox Media is currently exploring the placement of advertisements on the kiosks to cover installation and maintenance costs.
“The city is working on a variety of smart and innovative public-private partnerships, just like this one,” said Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman. “We appreciate Cox for their out-of-the-box thinking and assistance as we work together to ease traffic congestion in our downtown. It’s ideas like this one that will move our city into the future.”