IoT Applications in Smart Cities

The Internet of Things is everywhere today, from industrial applications to emergency services, public transportation, public safety, city lighting and other smart city applications. Due to IoT technology advancements, municipalities are becoming more and more connected in an effort to increase the efficiency of infrastructure installations, improve reliability and responsiveness of emergency services, cut costs and more. And innovation is ongoing. We expect to see many more smart city ideas using IoT for this market in the years to come.

In this post we will look at a few examples of IoT solutions across the smart cities landscape and the benefits cities are experiencing as a result of implementing them.

There are several reasons for municipalities to move to the wireless communications methods offered by IoT technologies.

This industry is growing so rapidly that it is a difficult undertaking to capture the breadth of applications in this industry. In fact, “smart cities” could be considered a collection of industries that includes city lighting, city transit, waste water management, emergency services, traffic management and more. In fact, new IoT smart city projects are likely to emerge as the available technologies become more widely adopted, and more targeted at the requirements of specific use cases.

We will cover city lighting, public transportation, and water management.

Lighting is one of the most prevalent examples of IoT applications for smart cities, and many municipalities today are turning to wireless communications for cost savings and energy reduction.

Lumca Lighting of Quebec City is putting smart city lighting to work. As an example, this outdoor lighting outfit developed a comprehensive lighting solution — the Lumca Smart Pole — with built-in power, connectivity, sensors, and other intelligent features, all of which are configured and managed via Digi Remote Manager®, a centralized software platform with a graphical user interface.

The solution incorporates the ruggedized Digi WR44R enterprise class router, which provides connectivity and data routing for multiple device nodes on the Smart Pole. The result is a comprehensive application supporting multiple uses:

Transit systems are another rapidly growing segment for smart city IoT applications. Transit agencies and smart cities are realizing enormous benefits in cost reduction, safety, routing management and improved rider experience. Where many municipalities saw ridership dropping in recent years, many are now experiencing renewed growth with improved visibility into bus and light rail routing and passenger Wi-Fi connectivity.

For an excellent example, we turn to SMART, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Rapid Transit Authority, which operates a fleet of more than 330 biodiesel and hybrid-electric buses across Michigan’s Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties.

The IoT solution deployed by the SMART transit system includes a range of features, which are enabled by the Digi WR44 R industrial router:

These enhancements help transit employees, dispatchers and riders to experience more reliable connectivity and improved communications. Additionally, with the increase in eco-friendly vehicles, smart cities can achieve air quality. This goal as well as reduced congestion are further enhanced with improved ridership and fewer city residents jumping into a car each time they need to travel across town.

Water management application needs for smart cities run the gamut from wastewater treatment to water monitoring to environmental restoration projects.