Hack the Beach 2017 Contest Sign-up
Sep 01, 2017
submission
#62
Submit your idea
Your idea/ technology/ company
| Name of your idea or project | The Graphic Traffic Infosection System™ |
| Which challenge area does your idea respond to? | Building Community, A Responsive Government, Learning |
| Describe your idea and how it can help Santa Monica | Overview Traffic lights at a city's busiest intersections possess some of that city’s most valuable real estate – every driver and pedestrian is effectively required to look at them attentively (during red lights, typically for 30 to 120 seconds at a time) up to dozens of times for just one trip. Yet traffic lights are currently used by cities for only one purpose – providing important yet primitive commands directing vehicular and pedestrian traffic, with no supplementary information offered or used. Using a traffic light at a stopped intersection for such a limited purpose is a squandered opportunity for any city, much like producing a cell phone with only a single app to make phone calls and nothing else. By themselves, traffic lights are a wasted opportunity of the highest order. The Graphic Traffic Infosection System™ is a comprehensive solution that combines traffic intersection signals with information with a duration coordinated with traffic light patterns – hence the term “infosection.” Installed only at the highest volume, most trafficked (both vehicular and pedestrian) intersections, the incorporation of such information – spanning parking, city announcements, local news, advertisements, safety reminders and suggested traffic flows – will transform intersections equipped with the Infosection System into informational hubs viewed by drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike. As a result, two goals explicitly stated as priorities by the City of Santa Monica would be most favorably impacted by the Infosection System: traffic congestion and pedestrian & cyclist safety. Information provided by the Infosection System will typically be packaged into durations that match the length of the traffic signals at that intersection, so while cars wait at red lights while pedestrians cross, drivers will be provided one or more informational messages. Similarly, when the Infosection System is green and cars are crossing an intersection, waiting pedestrians can use that time productively by consuming relevant information, announcements, reminders, etc. from a city. Such a public informational clearinghouse that can be accessed at major street corners will provide multiple ancillary benefits to the public, government and local citizens. In so doing, the Infosection System will deliver to micro-captive audiences whatever messages and information are deemed most important by a municipality. The cell phone is an apt example for the long term potential of an Infosection System. Cell phones started as a portable phone service but have now evolved into a multi-media, interactive device, with dozens of critical functionalities addressed for the average consumer. Traffic intersection lights are ripe for an analogous revolution in municipal usage, awareness and application. Description of Physical Product NOTE: Design sketches and content samples are available upon request Replacing the meager traffic light at the busiest intersections, the Infosection System would look much like a smaller, outdoor version of a Jumbotron found at major sports arenas. Safely hanged over intersections by structural columns and braces or heavy duty cables that reach across the intersection’s four corners, such a system would have four video screens that are sufficiently large and placed such that they can be easily seen and read by drivers, passengers and pedestrians in every direction at an intersection. The background color of each screen could be changed into the familiar red, yellow and green to provide the same information that traffic lights currently provide, but layered on top of the color at that moment will be time- and content-appropriate informational messages. This system would be connected virtually to a city’s various existing information systems, whether it be traffic management, police and fire, community services, etc. Among the numerous types of information that the Graphic Traffic Light can provide include: • Traffic suggestions (e.g., For best parking, use Garage Two) • City announcements (e.g., current or upcoming events, landmarks) • Pedestrian info (e.g., no walking during green lights at scramble intersections) • Driver info: (e.g., No right on red at scramble intersections) • Priority info: (e.g., missing child, meeting reminders) • Local news: (e.g., weather forecast, local headlines, etc.) • Safety reminders (e.g., reinforcement of traffic rules) • Advertising (if revenue generation is a municipal priority to recoup the city’s financial investment in the System.) Benefits to Community The Infosection System would provide enormous, systemic benefits to the City of Santa Monica. - The System provides valuable, time-sensitive information that is ordinarily needed by drivers but rarely provided in such a direct, easy way. - The System will use information in real-time to improve two stated priorities for the City: traffic congestion pedestrian and bicyclist safety. - The System creates welcome, safe distractions to pass the time during traffic stoppages, reducing road rage, auto/pedestrian accidents, etc. |
| What stage is your idea or project in? | Idea stage |
| What needs to happen to launch your product? Please list all resources (hardware, software, licensing, legal/regulatory, funding, partnership or support from the City, data, etc.) required to launch your program. | Several milestones would need to be achieved prior to full scale launch: - Hardware: purchase, build and integration of system of supporting infrastructure (e.g., intersection poles, cables, etc.) - Data: linkage to and integration of existing City information systems that feed into the Infosection System. - System Software: integration software would need to be developed, but this is expected to be a straightforward process that will not bottleneck the venture’s critical path. - Legal/Regulatory: City would likely need to pass new municipal ordinances allowing for the installation of such a system at its busiest intersections. - Funding: a pilot and/or purchase commitment from the City of Santa Monica would enable close to immediate funding from multiple private sources. |
| How realistic is it for your idea to be implemented by early 2018? Please describe what resources (if any) you will need in order to ensure a working product by early next year. | Given the physical build and installation requirements of Infosection Systems, it is not realistic to expect that the Infosection System could be implemented by early 2018. However, initial work planning suggests that early adoption of proof of concept by the City of Santa Monica would allow for the installation of initial Infosection Systems by end of 2018. In order to raise the capital that would be required for the physical build of the system and its integration with existing City information systems, the largest single resource needed would be an initial commitment by the City of Santa Monica to purchase this system as an initial pilot project, as well as a commitment to make Impact Consultancy LLC its exclusive or preferred vendor in this space. Impact Consultancy LLC has a number of important relationships with potential investors with a track record of accomplished successes in other ventures who would make a sizable financial investment with such a progressive commitment from a city like Santa Monica. |
You and your team
| Team Name | Impact Consultancy LLC |
| List team members and their roles | --- |
| Contact email | --- |
| Phone number | --- |
| Primary Contact Name | --- |
Initial application scoring
Scoring
| Viability (40%) | --- |
| Value (40%) | --- |
| Growth (20%) | --- |
| Notes | --- |
| Advance to semi-finalist status? | No - if no, HALT PROCESS |