Peachtree Corners announces IoT project to protect cyclists

The City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia has partnered with road safety firm Spoke to develop technology that protects cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

The city says the project is “the first ever connected IoT ecosystem for vulnerable road users (VRUs)”, adding that the technology provides insight and contextual awareness to drivers.

“As a city manager, safety for our residents, cyclists and pedestrians is a top priority,” said Brian Johnson, City Manager, Peachtree Corners.

“Each year nearly 1,000 bicyclists are killed and over 130,000 are injured in crashes or incidents on public roadways in the United States. Spoke’s technology is the first cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) implementation made for pedestrians, cyclists and other VRUs to use while along public roadways.

“With this in mind, making the decision to partner with Spoke and test these technologies in our city was an easy one.” 

How it works

The city says the system leverages three levels of connectivity within the mobility system: C-V2X to provide direct and immediate communication between cars and VRUs; LTE/5G cellular communications for advanced contextual awareness alerts between cars and VRUs; and a camera/radar system for vehicle identification and visualisation.

In partnership with Qualcomm, the phone-size C-V2X unit fits on the bike, sending 10 signals per second to cars and infrastructure around it – alerting both drivers and cyclists of the other before the human eye can detect what is coming.

Inside the vehicle, drivers can see the orientation of the cyclists and pedestrians and the direction they are approaching the vehicle from.

“The technology we have created is a culmination of our passion for cycling, our own experiences feeling unsafe or being injured as a VRU and our vision of making roadways safer for all,” said Reid Sigety, Chief Strategy and Operation officer, Spoke.

“Partnering with Curiosity Lab not only allows us to continue to improve and develop our solutions further, but also gives us a space to see how these solutions will improve in real-world scenarios. We are excited to further test and refine this technology with our partners at Peachtree Corners and to continue to improve our solutions with the goal of saving lives across the country.”

The technology will be demonstrated at the City of Peachtree Corners’ Curiosity Lab Criterium bike race on 26 April, where professional cyclists will race with the C-V2X units.

Image: Peachtree Corners