The German state of Hesse is working with global tech powerhouse Siemens to build the first eHighway on a public highway in the country, with an overhead contact line for electric freight transport on the A5 autobahn. Expected to be completed at the end of 2018, this new highway will help solve the issue of climate-neutral freight transport by road in Frankfurt, cutting energy consumption in half and reducing local air pollution.
Cologne, Germany, and IBM recently completed a smart traffic pilot that yielded surprisingly accurate predictions of traffic flow and volume.
Hitachi has developed a robot car equipped with sensors and GIS, initially for elderly and disabled drivers. But the self-driving car may be delivering your pizza one of these days.
The mayors of Paris and San Francisco have signed a memorandum of understanding that recognizes the two cities' commitment to collaborating closely on smart cities and the digital economy. The two cities will work together on issues ranging from energy and traffic to waste and pollution.
It may seem strange that the United Arab Emirates, which boasts the world's seventh largest oil and natural gas reserves, is pushing ahead with a very expensive experiment in renewable energy and urban sustainability.
The city of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Boston University are working with IBM to find new, smarter solutions to persistent urban challenges, including traffic congestion and streetlight management, energy efficiency, major event coordination, and water/sewer and airport management and maintenance.
Cities from Amsterdam and Stockholm to San Diego and Nanjing are reaching for the brass ring of sustainable, efficient and pleasant smart cities. But Santander, an old port city on Spain's Atlantic coast with the same financial problems nagging at many European cities, has already made it happen.
Frustrated drivers circling in search of an elusive parking spot not only contribute to traffic congestion, they also add to air pollution levels. The fix? No worries, there's an app for it.
Year's end has traditionally been a time to reflect on the important events and issues that emerged over the preceding 12 months — and how they could influence what we do in the year ahead. For that reason, we're sharing the five most widely-read news stories the Council published in 2018.
The electric vehicle transition has officially reached a milestone of more than 1 million on U.S. roads — and projections are that the second million EVs will be joining them very soon, in just a few years. Is your city prepared?