J Magazine Winter 2019

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Some of the “smart city” features along the Bay Street Innovation Corridor include powering signals and lights with electricity generated in the sidewalk using solar panels. The future is T almost here The Bay Street Innovation Corridor is moving Downtown closer to becoming a ‘smart city’ here is an incredible near-future vision for transportation on Bay Street. Self-driving public shuttles will roam up and down the corridor. Street lights will brighten for passersby and then dim to save energy. Stoplights will dynamically adjust to traffic conditions. If a sensor on a light pole detects shots fired, a camera tethered to police dispatch will switch on By CAROLE HAWKINS // Illustration by THE BAY JAX to capture the event. It all seemed Jetsons until last year, when the Bay Street Innovation Corridor got its first capital infusion — half of a $25 million federal grant paired with state and local matches. That money sent the Jacksonville Transportation Authority shopping for a fleet of autonomous vehicles for Bay Street. The Innovation Corridor is not just a collection of tech gadgets, though. It’s a more fundamental shift to a city 86 J MAGAZINE | WINTER <strong>2019</strong>
that runs smarter and leaner by plugging its assets into the Internet of Things. In that broader tale, The Innovation Corridor is neither the first act nor that final scene. The Internet of Things has been quietly developing in Jacksonville for over a decade. Its future is much larger than a 3-mile stretch of Downtown roadway. North Florida gets smart The Internet’s worldwide network of computers and devices has for decades provided information to people. Now the Internet is being used for things to provide information to other things. Any object armed with a sensor and a microchip can collect data about its environment and broadcast it to the Internet. The more objects get connected to one another this way, the more they can react to things around them without human intervention. When the Internet of Things is used to perform municipal services, that city is called a Smart City. Parking spaces can tell you when they are empty. Trashcans can tell you when they are full. The Internet of Things seems incredible, but it’s also believable. That’s because it’s already happening in Jacksonville. For years the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization has been using swaths of remote sensors to collect bits of traffic data. It all started 15 years ago, long before the Internet of Things was…well, a thing. “We needed transit to become more efficient,” said Jeff Sheffield, executive director of the TPO. “We are not going to be able to build enough roads to fulfill all of our transportation needs.” So, transportation engineers deployed hundreds of infrared sensors and Bluetooth receivers along highways. The pings of data the TPO now collects from moving vehicles feed a traffic app that tells commuters which route to work is quickest. The data also inform those smart highway signs that warn travelers of a disabled vehicle ahead. Mission control for all of this traffic data is a little known facility on Jefferson Street — a 6,500-square-foot Regional Transportation Management Center. Sheffield stands in the middle of it, arms outstretched as he presents the achievement. The floor is divided into workplace “pods,” each with its own array of computer terminals. The walls of the room are lined at both ends with monitors. Some display live feeds from Interstate Highway traffic cameras. Others light up highway routes in green, yellow and red, according to congestion. One tracks the GPS position of Road Rangers — a fleet of repair trucks that respond when a car breaks down on the highway. Another monitor lists wind speeds on bridges. “If conditions go out of the norm, an alarm is sent to the relevant agency,” Sheffield said. “They don’t have to watch every minute.” All of this input helps the TPO with its operations, certainly. From this building, transportation managers can reprogram stoplights remotely, aligning them with measured shifts in traffic demand. The real power of the Internet of Things happens when data is shared, though, Sheffield said. He makes a case that’s already begun, though in an analog kind of a way. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, Fish and Wildlife and state Department of Transportation all maintain teams at the transportation center. “It helps them to react a little bit sooner,” Sheffield said. “We found with first responders, all of us are asking a lot of the same questions.” When an accident occurs, police can dispatch officers to the scene. During a hurricane, winds can be measured, evacuations can be managed and incidents monitored. The data from the Regional Transportation Management Center connect to a larger statewide network, too. When Hurricane Dorian threatened South Florida last summer, the Florida Department of Transportation evacuated its transportation management center in Miami and relocated the staff to Jacksonville. From that safe distance they could “listen” to pings of data from South Florida sensors. Petri dish for a Smart Region Today’s accomplishments are just one small step toward the Internet of Things. The giant leap is still to come. The North Florida TPO has teamed with the cities of Jacksonville and St. Augustine, the JTA and more than 100 public and private partners to form a Smart Region Coalition. Its aim is to transform Northeast Florida into a place [Continued on page 97] BOB SELF Jeff Sheffield, Executive Director of the North Florida TPO, stands at a bank of monitors showing real time traffic camera feeds and other traffic data at the operations center on North Jefferson Street.
Page 1 and 2:
THE MAGAZINE OF THE REBIRTH OF JACK
Page 3 and 4:
architecture ◆ engineering ◆ co
Page 5 and 6:
KEEPING AMERICA MOVING CSX is the n
Page 7 and 8:
David Cawton II, Manager of Media &
Page 9 and 10:
FROM THE EDITOR Indicators show pro
Page 11 and 12:
«««««««««««««««««
Page 13 and 14:
SPRINGFIELD NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY V
Page 15 and 16:
64-year-old building for $3.7 milli
Page 17 and 18:
2019 T he St. James Building - curr
Page 19 and 20:
Man WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 19
Page 21 and 22:
Todd Brearley, the Design and Const
Page 23 and 24:
{ } “At the end of the day, what
Page 25 and 26:
Steven Frich of First Transit dusts
Page 27 and 28:
{ } “I had a number of people who
Page 29 and 30:
We know Jacksonville. Times-Union i
Page 31 and 32:
Workers put the finishing touches o
Page 33 and 34:
Work continues on the framework of
Page 35 and 36: for Speed Virgin Trains USA is expa
Page 37 and 38: JEFF DAVIS (MAP); ASSOCIATED PRESS
Page 39 and 40: VIRGIN TRAINS USA STATIONS /// ///
Page 41 and 42: While Jacksonville is one of the co
Page 43 and 44: To ride in the core city, a cyclist
Page 45 and 46: With the closing of The Jacksonvill
Page 47 and 48: spaces that are designated for the
Page 49 and 50: WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 49
Page 51 and 52: Work continues on Riverplace Boulev
Page 53 and 54: lanes and two lanes won’t hurt tr
Page 55 and 56: Decades ago, an experiment to add o
Page 57 and 58: But this time, they faced a popular
Page 59 and 60: ServingJacksonvilleforover40years N
Page 61 and 62: One of Beach Buggy San Marco’s el
Page 63 and 64: short ride as fun as possible. “G
Page 65 and 66: Earlier this fall, Downtown’s Fir
Page 67 and 68: Pastor Jerry Vines delivers a sermo
Page 69 and 70: “I would love for the city to rec
Page 71 and 72: BEAUTIFUL. MADE AFFORDABLE. PROUDLY
Page 73 and 74: A streetlight illuminates the sidew
Page 75 and 76: The lack of light and the absence o
Page 77 and 78: E V E N T S MAGAZINE J MAGAZINE INT
Page 79 and 80: WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 79
Page 81 and 82: Alan Bliss, executive director of t
Page 83 and 84: A group of Bolles School students l
Page 85: BOB SELF As thousands of Downtown w
Page 89 and 90: PREMIER MEDIA AND MARKETING IN GREA
Page 91 and 92: Downtown Investment Authority turne
Page 93 and 94: are nonprofits. We have 635 apartme
Page 95 and 96: Parking Continued from page 88 Broo
Page 97 and 98: Innovation Continued from page 87 w
Page 99 and 100: Top-ranked and trusted. Your family
show all

J Magazine Winter 2019

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?