Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NYC Smart Equitable City Final
NYC Smart Equitable City Final
BUILDING A
SMART +
EQUITABLE
CITY
2 Mayor’s Office for Tech + Innovation Smart + Equitable City
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
“Technology is critical to New York’s place as a 21st Century city. Not just
because tech brings lots of investment and jobs–but because successful
cities have always thrived on the disruption new technology brings.”
SMART BUILDINGS +
INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure connects people,
neighborhoods, and businesses, and
provides essential services—the water
we drink, the gas we need to cook, the
electricity that lights homes and businesses,
and the Internet access to communicate
and learn. New York City is committed to
developing and maintaining world-class
buildings and infrastructure that enhances
the delivery of public services and supports
the City’s economic growth, sustainability,
and resiliency.
Smart Buildings + Infrastructure 5
New York City spends roughly $600 To date, FDNY has completed LED
million per year on electricity for its lighting retrofits in 37 facilities;
agencies and public institutions. reducing energy use by an
In order to help decrease New estimated 3 million kilowatt-hours
York City’s energy bill and reduce (kWh) and eliminating greenhouse
greenhouse gas emissions, gas emissions by approximately
the Department of Citywide 520 metric tons of carbon dioxide
Administrative Services (DCAS) equivalent annually. These
initiated an innovative program to completed projects are estimated
identify and fund cost-effective to yield avoided electricity costs
energy saving projects in City of over $400,000 per year. By
agencies. To date, the Accelerated 2017, FDNY will complete the
Conservation and Efficiency (ACE) remaining lighting projects, which
program has led to over 110 energy are expected to save the city an
saving projects across 18 city additional $480,000 per year and
agencies, valued at nearly $291 eliminate greenhouse gas emissions
million. by over 600 metric tons of carbon
dioxide equivalent annually.
As part of the ACE program, a
number of agencies have installed The DCAS ACE program, in
smart lighting solutions in their partnership with City agencies,
buildings, including LED upgrades has catalyzed energy efficiency
and advanced lighting controls. For improvement projects in over
instance, the New York City Fire 600 buildings. All ACE projects
Department (FDNY) secured ACE combined are estimated to save the
funding to install LED lighting in 86 City $43 million every year moving
firehouses and FDNY offices across forward, while reducing greenhouse
the five boroughs. FDNY facilities gas emissions by approximately
have the potential for significant 107,750 metric tons of carbon
dioxide equivalent.
66 Building a Smart + Equitable City
New York City has 6,000 miles of in Motion was able to improve travel
T ENERGY + used by more than
streets which are times by 10% within its first year of
ONMENT
5,000 public buses, 13,000 yellow
taxis, 60,000 for-hire vehicles, and
operation. That success led DOT
officials to increase the program’s
millions of commuters daily. In order service area to 270 blocks in 2012,
to ease the congestion created by and they are now replicating the
these vehicles, the Department of Midtown in Motion concept in
Transportation (DOT) established Flushing, Queens.
Midtown in Motion, a smart city
approach to traffic management. In addition to improving the
movement of vehicles through the
Midtown in Motion is a technology- City, responsive traffic management
enabled traffic management system also helps the environment.
that uses real-time traffic information As vehicles idle in traffic, they emit
from a variety of sources to monitor a range of greenhouse gases and
and respond to various traffic particulate matter associated with
conditions. The system incorporates air pollution. Midtown in Motion
microwave sensors, traffic video mitigates this effect by reducing
cameras and EZPass readers to vehicle idle times, helping to keep
gather traffic flow information. New York City’s air clean.
10
New York City Department of Transportation + Metropolitan Transportation Authority
New York City operates more After successful pilot tests in 2008
than 5,700 public buses that carry along bus routes in Staten Island
around 2.5 million passengers every and the Bronx, the program was
weekday on a network with 12,860 extended to Manhattan along a
signalized intersections. In order to corridor used by the Select Bus
keep those passengers moving, the Service. Technological advances
City’s Department of Transportation in the ensuing years reduced the
(DOT) and the Metropolitan cost of the system’s adoption,
Transportation Authority (MTA) prompting further expansion of the
introduced Transit Signal Priority technology to more of the City’s
(TSP), an urban traffic management bus routes.
system that improves the efficiency
and dependability of bus mass Since the introduction of TSP,
transit. transit bus delays have been
reduced by nearly 20%. Reduced
A bus equipped with the in-vehicle delays and speedy passage
TSP system requests priority service through intersections assist in
as it approaches an intersection making the bus an attractive
and can change the normal signal alternative to single-occupancy
operation to improve the flow of vehicle commuting. The improved
bus traffic. TSP will provide the reliability of the City’s bus service
equipped bus with either an “early has particularly positive impact on
green” (red truncation) or a “green the millions of New Yorkers who
extension” (extends the green time), rely on the bus network for their
ensuring the bus’s expeditious daily commutes.
passage through the intersection.
SMART ENERGY +
ENVIRONMENT
New York City is home to the world’s uses integrated wireless sensors to
largest sanitation department, detect trash level, alerting sanitation
collecting more than 10,500 tons of services to empty the bin at the
residential and institutional garbage appropriate time. The unit can also
and 1,760 tons of recyclables every store five times more waste than
day. NYC businesses generate the ordinary public garbage bin
another 13,000 tons of garbage thanks to solar-powered compaction.
daily, which is collected by private Successful pilots with BigBelly
carting companies. This garbage — in New York City precipitated a
particularly in commercial districts partnership with the Downtown
— makes its way through public Alliance to install nearly 200 units in
trash and recycling receptacles. lower Manhattan. In total, BigBelly
The amount of garbage in these has now deployed nearly 700
receptacles can vary dramatically smart waste and recycling systems
from hour-to-hour or day-to-day citywide.
depending on a variety of factors
including pedestrian traffic, Smart waste and recycling systems
special events and weather, so it provide multiple benefits. Sanitation
can be challenging to define an service providers can plan their
efficient pick-up schedule that routes according to what bins need
can prevent overflowing trash emptying, rather than simply sticking
bins. In partnership with the city’s to a preset schedule, saving time.
Department of Small Business BigBelly estimates that their solution
Services and Business Improvement improves waste collection efficiency
Districts (BIDs), New York City is by 50% to 80%. More efficient
changing this equation with the garbage collection also means trucks
introduction of smart trash cans. cover shorter distances and idle
less, greatly reducing the amount of
A number of waste management greenhouse gases and air pollution
companies have developed and they produce.
piloted smart trashcans on public
and private property across the
five boroughs. The BigBelly, the
most widely deployed smart waste
and recycling system in New York,
14 Building a Smart + Equitable City
Air pollution is a major cause of matter in its vicinity and report that
illness and death in the urban reading every 15 minutes.
environment, especially among
the elderly, very young, and other NYC has used data from the
vulnerable residents. To inform Community Air Survey to introduce
New York City’s effort to reduce the regulations targeting major local
pollutants in its air, the Department pollution sources. For example,
of Health and Mental Hygiene building heating systems often
(DOHMH) conducts regular air burned less expensive types of
quality surveys measuring fine heating oil which release large
particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulfur amounts of sulfur dioxide and soot
dioxide, elemental carbon, and particles. In 2010, 10,000 buildings
ozone levels. using this oil, just 1% of all buildings
in the city, created more air pollution
DOHMH has been conducting than all of the vehicles using the
The New York City Community Air city’s streets and highways. The
Survey since 2008. This survey, effects on air quality were quantified
done in conjunction with the City by the Community Air Survey,
University of New York’s Queens prompting City regulations to reduce
College, is the largest urban air and eventually ban the use of the
monitoring program in the US. most polluting heating oils.
Surveyors place sophisticated air
monitoring equipment at 75 sites Sulfur dioxide levels have now fallen
around the city for a period of two 69% since the surveys were first
weeks in each season .They then initiated. DOHMH makes this and
collect, analyze, and publish this other community environmental
data on DOHMH’s website. data available in a user-friendly
Environment and Health Data Portal
To complement the annual air on their website.
quality survey, DOHMH is field
testing eight air quality monitors
throughout the city that can
report data in real-time. Each
monitor will be able to measure the
concentration of fine particulate
1818 Building a Smart + Equitable City
The New York City Police these recordings, the shot can be
Department (NYPD) operates located to within 25 meters of its
the largest urban public safety location. The signals are routed
and security data collection and to ShotSpotter’s headquarters
processing system in the United for validation before sending an
States. The Domain Awareness alert through the DAS that notifies
System (DAS) incorporates NYPD within a minute of the
thousands of NYPD video feeds, shot’s firing.
license plate readers, radiation
and chemical sensors and It is estimated that 75% of the
911 reports into a centralized shots captured by ShotSpotter
clearinghouse. It also integrates nationwide are not otherwise
data feeds from various City reported to the police.
agencies and from some private Automated gunshot detection
and commercial buildings. monitoring is therefore a valuable
tool for deterring and responding
In order to enhance the DAS to crime when witnesses fail to
and improve gunshot incident dial 911.
response times, NYPD introduced DAS operators that receive
technology that provides the gunshot alerts are able to view
agency with real- time acoustic that information alongside
gunshot detection. concurrent 911 reports and video
First tested as a demonstration feeds from the incident area,
project in the Bronx and Brooklyn providing them with a clearer
in the spring of 2015, a gunshot picture of the situation on the
detection system called ground.
ShotSpotter has now been
integrated into the City’s DAS. NYPD is currently working with
the DAS software developer to
The system consists of hundreds allow police officers to access the
of rooftop mounted sensors, application on their smartphones
each programmed to detect while in the field which will
the acoustic fingerprint of a provide them with a full suite of
gunshot. Three sensors must valuable situational awareness
identify the gunshot, and using information in real-time.
Smart Public Health + Safety 19
2020 Building a Smart + Equitable City Smart + Equitable City
SMART GOVERNMENT +
COMMUNITY
Technology plays a critical role
in improving service delivery and
increasing civic engagement. New York
City is committed to expanding two-way
digital communication and engagement
with the public using tools like nyc.gov,
as well as non-government platforms
and products. Every New Yorker
should have access to high quality,
community-based City resources that
enable residents to thrive.
Smart Government + Community
Smart + Equitable City 21
New York City’s 311 system is 311 also supports the submission
the largest in the country. Since of requests and complaints via text,
2003, the City has handled more Twitter and Facebook.
than 232 million contacts. As the
city’s main source of government While the model is still relatively
information and non-emergency new, the 311 app is already
services, residents can access 311 generating benefits for both the
via phone, web, text, social, and community and the City. Thanks to
mobile to submit service requests the app’s user-friendly interface and
or obtain community information. its ability to record GPS locations,
photos, and details when people
The popularity of the app has first encounter the issue, people are
grown exponentially over the last submitting more timely and accurate
few years — downloads per month service requests and agencies
now average 13,000, and the share can more efficiently remedy the
of requests made through the app problems. In essence, the 311 app
has grown from around 8% to and social media channels allow
more than 15% of total requests community members to operate
within the last year. as real-time sensors themselves,
creating a positive feedback loop
The 311 app allows New Yorkers between the City and its residents.
to directly submit requests in
many of the most frequently used
categories via a user-friendly
interface, from reporting a pothole
to recording heating complaints
in the winter. When a user enters
a request or complaint, it is
tagged with their GPS location,
any additional information about
the request, and a photo if
desired. This information is then
transmitted to the 311 database
and subsequently forwarded to
the appropriate agency for action.
Smart Government + Community 23
nyc.gov/forward