Skip to main content

San Diego to deploy smart streetlights

The City of San Diego, California, is partnering with GE to upgrade streetlights in a bid to reduce energy costs by 60 per cent as well as transform them into a connected digital network that can optimise parking and traffic, enhance public safety and track air quality. The City will be installing 3,200 smart sensor nodes that can use real-time anonymous sensor data to direct drivers to open parking spaces, help first responders during emergencies, track carbon emissions and identify intersections that c
February 24, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The City of San Diego, California, is partnering with GE to upgrade streetlights in a bid to reduce energy costs by 60 per cent as well as transform them into a connected digital network that can optimise parking and traffic, enhance public safety and track air quality.

The City will be installing 3,200 smart sensor nodes that can use real-time anonymous sensor data to direct drivers to open parking spaces, help first responders during emergencies, track carbon emissions and identify intersections that can be improved for pedestrians and cyclists.

The anonymous information from the sensors can be used by developers to create apps and software that can benefit the community.

Additionally, the City will be replacing 14,000 streetlights with more energy efficient versions, which is expected to reduce energy costs by US$2.4 million annually. These streetlights include technology that allows for manually or automatically dimming and brightening in public venues, depending on natural light conditions.

The City expects the project to achieve an estimated 60 per cent reduction in energy. In addition to reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, the streetlights are also intended to reduce light pollution.

An adaptive control system captures real time interval data, monitoring and notifications for maintenance purposes and also provides GPS coordinates at each fixture. Over the life of each fixture the system automatically ramps up power as needed to meet specified lighting standards.

Related Content

  • Wavetronix radar-based traffic sensor cuts costs
    May 30, 2013
    While initial cost of radar based detection may be higher than that traditional loops, lower maintenance costs more than balance the books. Following successful field tests, the US city of Greenville, North Carolina, has recently agreed a new policy of phasing in Wavetronix traffic sensor technology’s radar-based SmartSensor Matrix system across its signalised traffic intersections. City traffic engineer Rik DiCesare expects the incremental implementation to deliver benefits to both the city’s taxpayers an
  • Videalert: Bath experience highlights joined-up thinking
    August 7, 2019
    Councils can achieve greater value with multi-purpose traffic enforcement and management platforms, says Tim Daniels of Videalert. But UK authorities could also help deliver solutions by committing to ‘joined up thinking’... Joined-up thinking’ used to be a commonly related governmental phrase and implied a commitment to looking at elements of a problem to deliver a holistic solution. However, the way that successive governments have addressed major issues has demonstrated their inability to achieve join
  • Cost Benefit: the economic case for cycling
    August 20, 2019
    Cycling is good for us for any number of reasons. David Crawford finds that it is now possible to access basic, low-cost data which will help make the economic case for improving infrastructure Cycling is enjoying a favourable press the world over as a ‘good thing’ in the economic, environmental and social spheres. A recent study on the Value of Cycling from the UK’s University of Birmingham, for example, shows that cycle-friendly urban settings can deliver annualised transport infrastructural support co
  • Decrease in Florida’s red-light running crashes
    January 6, 2015
    The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' (DHSMV) recently-released third annual Red-Light Camera Summary Report analysed data from 68 police agencies in the cities and towns in Florida where red-light safety cameras are deployed. The report shows a decrease in red-light running violations and crashes at intersections with red-light safety cameras and is consistent with results from previous state reports affirming the effectiveness of this important law enforcement tool. Total violations