Greater Cambridge already has significant infrastructure that is connected and produces valuable data – laying the foundations for more smart city technologies.

Traffic lights, parking meters, passenger information screens, waste bins, CCTV cameras, air quality monitors, street lights and bus times are just some of the networked services connecting the city.

The sensors collect the following data:

  • Buses – real-time locations in Long/Lat and time stamped
  • Bus Stops – real-time displays show how many minutes until the next bus is due
  • Air Quality – shows the levels of various gases
  • Traffic Lights – number of cars crossing a set point
  • Blue tooth detectors – number of cars and average speed between two points (real-time)
  • Car Park sensors – show the main council-operated and Park & Ride car parks filling up and emptying – number of available spaces (real-time)
  • Bike sensors – number of bikes that have crossed a point
  • Bin sensors – how full the bin is to inform collection
  • Flood sensors – on the river that show river level (real-time)
  • Weather Stations – give real-time weather reporting (temp/humidity/rainfall etc).

The Smart team is working with others to build upon this by joining these networks up and using the data in a smarter way.

Watch this space to find out more about our projects in conjunction with the Greater Cambridge Partnership, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and Cambridgeshire County Council.