- Sustainability Problem: Energy, Transportation
The ubiquity of private vehicles creates several problems, including energy related GHG emissions and air pollution (from car manufacturing as well as fuel consumption), traffic congestion, and parking shortages in cities.
- Tel Aviv Unveils Car-sharing Plan
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.765502
TELOTO: Tel Aviv Municipal Car Sharing Will Be Launched In 2017
https://happyintlv.net/item/tel-aviv-municipal-car-sharing-is-starting-in-2017/
- A technology that can help address some of these problems is car sharing.
- Tel Aviv is currently piloting a new municipal car sharing program, different from many existing programs such as zipcar due to the ability to pick up and drop off a vehicle in different locations throughout the city, similar to existing municipal bike sharing programs.
- The initial launch includes a fleet of 260 vehicles and 520 reserved parking spaces across the city.
- Users will pay a flat monthly fee and an additional hourly use charge to use the service.
- The program’s app shows a city map with available vehicles as well as available parking space locations.
This type of technology is better than most existing car sharing programs, as it can solve the “last mile” problem for public transportation that many cities around the world face. If designed and distributed properly, this type of program can allow people to enter the city with public transportation, and use a shared vehicle to arrive to their final destination without having to return it to its original spot. As cities are forced to manage higher and higher population densities, the app can be used to match commuters with similar routes and offer lower prices for carpooling to further alleviate traffic congestion.
- Stakeholders: Municipal governments and transportation departments, public transportation companies, car manufacturers, city residents.
- In order to successfully deploy this technology, a city must:
- Research transportation patterns to help decide where vehicles and parking spots are most needed.
- Develop a public awareness campaign to help residents understand the merits of the program.
- Create financial incentives for residents who are willing to give up their private vehicles.
- Comment on post by Haley Mole “Don’t Waste Water: here is the smart way to keep your lawns Green!”
The Rachio app can help calculate how long the sprinkler system should run based on manually entered data about the type of vegetation and soil, sun exposure, and slope of the land. It can also take into consideration local weather conditions (rain, moisture, temperature) to either ramp up or ramp down the watering schedule.
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