Canton Basel tests "smart road
In a pilot project, the city of Basel plans to test various technologies in public spaces, for example to monitor water quality, air quality or traffic frequencies, and to transmit the data to the relevant administrative bodies.
As part of a pilot project, the city of Basel plans to explore various technologies over the next few years to simplify data collection in public spaces. Among other things, the aim of the project is to use sensors to collect data on the utilization of parking spaces in order to drive forward parking space management.
Alternative charging of electric cars
Various measuring systems are used to transmit factors such as air quality, water quality and traffic frequencies to the responsible administrative bodies. The "smart street" comprises a section of road on Gundeldingerstrasse at the level of Margarethenpark. According to the city of Basel, sensors will be installed there at five locations. The test phase already began in February and will now last about a year.
The talk is of "new, inexpensive sensors" that measure both air quality and vehicle noise over a longer period of time. However, the measuring systems also require electricity. For example, tests are being conducted to determine whether power distribution boxes can also be used as e-car charging stations, or to what extent street lighting could be used for power requirements.
As far as data collection is concerned, the city of Basel communicates that the technologies are hardly recognizable in public spaces and the population would also not see which data is collected by which location for which purpose. However, in order to increase transparency, sensors are to be identified with pictograms or QR codes. The collected data would be freely accessible and usable for the public and would be published on the data portal Basel-Stadt on the website https://data.bs.ch published.
Source: Canton Basel-Stadt
