How Boston is embracing smart tech to make its roads safer, close the digital divide, and combat climate change
Getty/Steve Marsel
- Boston has deployed a number of smart-tech projects and initiatives to prepare for the future.
- The city is working with businesses, universities, and the public to improve utilities and traffic.
- Officials are also working on sustainability by reducing carbon emissions and the digital divide.
- This article is part of a series focused on American cities building a better tomorrow called "Advancing Cities."
Embracing digital transformation can help cities become more sustainable and resilient. One city that's ahead of the curve is Boston, which has deployed a number of smart technologies and initiatives.
Courtesy of the Boston Smart Utilities Program
For the past few years, Boston has collaborated with businesses, universities, and the public to lay the groundwork for its digital transformation plans. Here's a look at what the city has in the works.
Courtesy of the Boston Smart Utilities Program
The Boston Planning and Development Agency approved the Smart Utilities Program as a two-year pilot in 2018. The goal of the program is to coordinate the adoption of technology to ensure Boston's utility infrastructure is prepared for the effects of climate change, cut utility costs for residents, and reduce traffic congestion and road construction.
It centers on five smart-utility technologies: a district energy microgrid, green infrastructure, smart streetlights, a telecom utilidor, and technology supporting car, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic.
Esquivel said a program update was approved in 2020 and projects are at different stages as stakeholders continue to collaborate on how to best use the technology to address the city's needs.
"We have done so much of the table setting for the new technologies in the city of Boston that we're looking to support our sustainability, resilience, and futuristic goals," Esquivel said.
Transportation initiatives strive to make travel more equitable and roadways saferCity of Boston
Go Boston 2030, the city's comprehensive transportation plan, strives to make getting around the city more equitable, reliable, and efficient. It's also helping the city prepare for the effects of climate change.
The plan aims to reduce transportation-related carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, decrease vehicle traffic, and increase use of public transit by 30%, walking by half, and biking by four times.
The plan's 58 projects include bike lanes and slow streets, smart streetlights and signals, and self-driving vehicle policies and testing. So far, about half of the projects have been implemented or are in the design phase.
The Boston Transportation Department also launched the Vision Zero program in 2016 to eliminate serious and fatal traffic accidents by 2030. To achieve that goal, the city set a default speed limit of 25 mph in 2017, revamped bike lanes, and launched Boston's Safest Driver app in 2019.
Residents are encouraged to use the app to measure their driving trips against five metrics — rapid acceleration, harsh braking, sharp turns, at-risk speeding, and phone distraction. The app scores each trip and offers tips for how to improve their driving in the future.
Smart street tech powers sensors that collect data on health and safetyCourtesy of the Boston Smart Utilities Program
Boston is using technology to reimagine its streets to help meet its Vision Zero goals and smart-utility benchmarks.
The city worked with Verizon to test smart street technology like video cameras, LED lights, sensors under streets, and a digital platform for data analysis, reporting, and more. The goal is to collect data about how vehicles and cyclists move on city streets, how and where pedestrians cross streets, how vehicles and cyclists yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and how cyclists use bike lanes.
"We're equipping the city with the infrastructure to support smart technology that's going to live on our light poles," Esquivel said, adding that electrical conduits will be added under the streets and sidewalks for the lights. Additional electrical and fiber optics connections are needed on existing streetlights to power smart sensors, WiFi, and cameras to provide data on health, safety, and traffic.
City officials are researching and experimenting with smart-city projectsBrian Snyder/Reuters
The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics was created in 2010 as a civic research and design center for Boston. The office works on a variety of experiments and prototypes across sectors, including mobility and infrastructure.
The office is exploring several smart city technologies, like autonomous vehicles, smart parking sensors, Internet of Things devices, and how to engage with residents digitally, such as through its 311 system and parking and trash and recycling apps.
To help guide researchers and private-sector companies hoping to work on smart-cities projects in the city, the office created the Boston Smart City Playbook to ensure smart-city pilot projects don't just end with "a glossy presentation and a collective shrug," according to the office. The goal is to clarify what makes a smart city and ensure that projects are "people-centered, problem-driven, and responsible."
The Digital Equity Fund strives to close the city's digital divideCourtesy of the Boston Smart Utilities Program
The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on connectivity issues and the digital divide that exists in cities across the country.
To address its problem, Boston established the Digital Equity Fund to provide mini-grants to organizations that are solving different technology challenges in the city, including access to equipment like laptops and smartphones, internet access, and training to use the technology. The initiative is a partnership with the Age Strong Commission and the city's Department of Innovation and Technology.
Funding is prioritized for organizations that offer programs for older adults, people with disabilities, English language learners, public housing residents, people who lost their jobs because of COVID-19, and neighborhoods disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In July, the city awarded $478,900 in grants to 19 nonprofits in Boston working to close the digital divide.
"Connecting Boston residents with technology tools, access, and training is critical to achieving our city's equitable recovery, reopening, and renewal," Boston Mayor Kim Janey said about the awards.
The Climate Action Plan outlines plans for going carbon neutral and reducing wasteMaria Noyen for Insider
Digital transformation is a major part of addressing sustainability issues, Esquivel said.
The Smart Utilities Program is implementing green infrastructure to help with water management. Technology like underground basins and porous paving stones allow rainwater to seep into the ground, which will reduce flooding and pollution.
Boston also strives to reduce carbon emissions from buildings and transportation over the next five years. Its Climate Action Plan, which the city updated in 2019, aims to help the city prepare for the effects of climate change through studies into Boston's resilience to the impact of hotter temperatures and sea-level rise.
Boston also pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2050 and implemented a zero-waste initiative in 2018 to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost up to 90% of solid waste.
Partnerships with universities help Boston meet its digital transformation goalsDavid L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Partnerships with the many universities in the Boston area are essential in helping Boston reach its digital transformation goals. Esquivel said the city coordinates with local universities on research projects for students and to "answer some of the questions that we have."
Universities bring "extra capacity" in the form of skills, expertise, and even labor to help cities design and execute research studies, Daniel O'Brien, director of the Boston Area Research Initiative, told Insider.
BARI is a multiuniversity partnership with the city that participates in urban research and public policy. The organization is housed at Northeastern University and each year hosts a conference to bring together researchers, policymakers, and community leaders.
"We aim to identify opportunities for data technology to reshape communities in the 21st century," O'Brien said. "We're thinking about how do we use these tools to enhance the things we really care about in society, including equity, justice, democracy, sustainability, and resilience."
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