Starting with small scale of experiment, smart street light is currently ready to go into a larger scale of deployment in Taipei. On 23rd May, Taipei City Government announced that an investment of NT$1.3 billion will be taken for the construction of smart street light within 3 years since 2019. 12 thousand smart street light are scheduled to be set up in 2019, and over 9 thousand in 2020. The goal is to make 160 thousand street lights smart in Taipei by 2021.
Currently Taipei has 160 thousand street lights. In 2017, Taipei City Government has set up 12 smart street lights in Neihu in order to solve the traffic congestion and parking problems. Earlier this year, 4 smart street lights, combining IoT technology, traffic lights system, and edge computing, were erected on Jiankang Road to monitor the traffic and air pollution.
Taipei City Government declared a 3-year project of smart street lighting with NT$1.34 billion budget today. This project includes setting up 12 thousand smart street lights in exclusive districts such as Taipei Neihu Technology Park, Nankang Software Park, Xinyi Special District, and Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. In 2020, more than 9 thousand are expected to be erected in Neihu, Nangang, Xinyi, Songshan, and Zhongshan District. The ultimate goal is to make 160 thousand street lights smart in Taipei City by 2021.
Charles Lin, Deputy Mayor of Taipei City, indicated that the smart street light will be first used for the testing stage of city’s innovative application, such as smart transport and internet of vehicles. In addition to the street light management and improvement of traffic congestion, he added, the smart street light will be a brand new living lab project open to startups to experiment and develop their innovative ideas, services, and even the business model.
The smart street light can be served as not only LED lighting, also the real-time sensors for temperature, humidity, and air quality. Furthermore, with the capability of CCTV, the pole can measure the speed of passing cars and generate analysis and advice according to its statistics of traffic flow, car speed, and traffic congestion for competent authority’s reference in formulating future policies.
The data collected from the smart street light can not only be transmitted through wires, but also through main IoT transmission technologies, such as Wi-Fi, NB-IoT, and even for the establishment of 5G base station. The standardized plug on the pole will be served for Plug and Play service and modularization. The App Interface (API) of smart street light supports Open API and Open Data, making it accessible to the public. Moreover, with the 24-hour power supply, the service can be used without concerns on electricity interruption.