The City of Buffalo will begin installing the first pieces of equipment this fall for its Smart Curb Buffalo initiative, Mayor Christopher Scanlon announced Friday.
The project is funded through the US Department of Transportation’s SMART Grant program.
“This initiative brings digital and E-paper signage, real time, sensors and data driven communication directly to our streets here in the city of Buffalo,” Scanlon said. “These new signs will display parking information, emergency alerts and event notifications in real time, helping our residents, visitors and local businesses and be informed while ensuring our emergency vehicles can get where they need to quickly and safely.”
It’s a system utilizing sensors and digital signage that provides the public real-time traffic and parking information, including alerts during emergency situations.
“We inference the information across the array of sensor equipment that we have to sort of, what we call in terms, we build a digital curb. We use the sensor equipment to build the curb, and we have a model of it,” explained Jason Peckham of Umojo, the company with which the city is working to install Smart Curb Buffalo. “All cities across North America have an application or a tool they will use to manage the city streets and the curb. This ultimately, over time, will most likely become the application the city would then use to manage changes against the curb. There's parking changes, policy changes, so on and so forth.”
Smart Curb Buffalo will begin as a pilot program in three neighborhoods: the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Canalside, and the Chippewa Street entertainment district.
“Every day we're home to major hospitals, research institutions and emergency rooms that must remain accessible at all times, including during snowstorms, special events and emergencies. That's why this Smart Curb Buffalo pilot is such an important and exciting project,” said Jamie Hamann-Burney, chief strategy officer for the medical campus. “The initiative introduces real time messaging and alert systems that will help keep people informed about parking restrictions, emergency updates and street conditions as they happen. It will help ensure that first responders can move freely, visitors can find parking more easily, and that the community has timely information to make safe and efficient travel choices.”
Sensors will be installed through the end of this year, followed by digital LCD screens in early 2026, and then electronic signage in the spring.
City officials say Smart Curb use the data collected by sensors to assess parking patterns, occupancy trends and aid in emergency coordination, but will not collect personal information from motorists.
Information on the system may be found here.