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Coding the Curbs: Transforming Urban Space Management with Smart Parking Zones

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On September 19, during the Smart City Conference 2024, Coding the Curbs launched their parking pilot program – smart zones for visitors. In partnership with Riga Technical University (RTU) and Rīga City Council, the company has introduced five Smart Zones for visitor parking on the RTU campus, aiming to create a more efficient, adaptable, and organized parking system. The pilot program will run until the end of December and will be evaluated at that time to determine its effectiveness and potential for future continuation. 

The primary  goal of this pilot is to make visitor parking more efficient and well-managed with the innovative Smart Zones—digitally-enabled, bookable parking spaces that respond to the dynamic needs of city environments. Visitors can reserve these spots in advance via a seamless digital platform, which simplifies the parking process and ensures that spaces are utilized optimally. Each zone is clearly marked with dedicated signs and street markings, offering a smooth and straightforward experience for users. 

For now, the option to make Smart Zone bookings for visitors is limited to a selected group of RTU staff during the pilot phase. This phased approach allows the project team to gather important data on the system’s functionality and impact, ensuring a thoughtful and evidence-based evaluation before considering a wider rollout to the general public. 

This project is supported by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. EIT Urban Mobility acts to accelerate positive change on mobility to make urban spaces more liveable. Learn more: eiturbanmobility.eu

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Coding the Curbs: Bookable Loading Zones

The project aims to pilot an innovative, scalable platform for bookable loading zones, with the goal of alleviating urban logistics challenges. By employing real-time monitoring, advanced analytics, algorithms, and collaborative efforts, the pilot seeks to enhance the current system.

The objectives of the project are to develop a scalable platform for booking Smart Zones, establish a data analysis tool to measure the impact of Smart Zones, and create a handbook for implementing the Smart Zones.

In Riga, the solution will be piloted in the campus territory of the Riga Technical University, empowering logistic companies, local businesses, and citizens to easily access and book Smart Zones. The web-based application provides a user-friendly interface for finding Smart Zones, reserving timeslots, and managing bookings. The solution can facilitate cities’ transition towards the implementation of zero-emission zones.

Duration, funding, partners:

Funding: EIT Urban mobility
Budget: Total € 374 800.00, EU contribution € 246 281.00, Riga Municipality budget € 42 125.00, EU contribution €33 700.00
Duration: 01.01.2023. – 31.12.2023.
Partners: Coding the Curbs (lead partner), Riga City Council, Gemeente Groningen, District 6 of Bucharest Municipality

Environmental and air quality monitoring station opened in Ķīpsala and its indicators are available to all citizens

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As part of the expansion of the Kipsala Smart neighbourhood, an environmental and air quality monitoring station was opened in October, with measurements available to all on a screen on the Zunda waterfront in Kipsala. This allows residents of the neighbourhood to monitor the quality of the environment and air, which is an essential part of public safety. The data are also available to the municipality, helping to identify the most significant polluters and to evaluate the results of the actions taken to reduce pollution. In turn, scientists will be able to work with the data to forecast the future situation under different scenarios.

Installation and maintenance of the Ķīpsala environmental and air quality monitoring station is provided by TET. It measures air quality according to the European Air Quality Index, as well as environmental noise levels. The wind direction and strength detected by the monitoring station help to identify potential sources of air pollution. Similar measurements are also available for odour, rain intensity, visibility and other environmental aspects, but have not yet been tested in our conditions.

The data is available to citizens on a screen in the urban environment in Ķīpsala. The data on the screen is updated every one hour, ensuring that it is available in near real time, allowing data-driven decisions to be made. For example, taking a walk with your baby when air quality measurements are at their best, or planning a morning jog to check in advance for increased dust or car exhaust pollution that could be harmful to your long-term health.

Inese Andersone, Chair of the Riga City Council’s Urban Development Committee, says: “The location of the new and compact environmental and air pollution station in the Kipsala Smart Cities area is a good example of how the city cooperates with a technology company in the development of new products. On the one hand, the city needs new ways of collecting data that fit into the urban environment, but on the other hand, technology companies need to develop solutions to urban development challenges. The Kipsala Smart City area serves as a testbed to put the newly developed product to the test.”

The EU’s Climate Neutrality Policy targets for 2030 include reducing the health impacts of air pollution by at least 55% and reducing the number of people suffering from chronic traffic noise nuisance by at least 30%. The Cabinet of Ministers’ order on the action plan to reduce air pollution also includes measures to be taken in Riga to improve air quality, as well as the development of action programmes to improve air quality in municipalities. The new monitoring station will complement the existing bank of air quality measurements, which consists of the scientific stations of the Latvian Centre for Environment, Geology and Meteorology, and will provide the municipality with valuable air quality data to assess the current situation and the results of the implemented measures.

“We see that TET could support Riga and other municipalities to meet their climate goals with a variety of smart solutions. The Kipsala neighbourhood shows how smart city management needs to be able to think systemically and how different technologies can complement each other to get there. Already today, in Ķīpsala, on the Zunda embankment, the smart light system with its own controllers works as a backbone, managing the constant current and supplying it to other equipment – cameras, sensors. The environmental and air quality monitoring station is the next step in the development, and it very clearly highlights the role of data in enhancing the quality of life of citizens,” says Guna Soloveja, Head of New Business Development at TET.

Making such measurements public shows that the municipality is open to showing the data to citizens, thus contributing to the debate on the quality of the environment in neighbourhoods. The data can also be used for scientific purposes, to make predictions about the future and identify potential risks. The data is available in near real time on a platform developed by Tet – the period can be adjusted to one or eight hours, or around the clock. You can also receive pollution alerts, as well as monthly and annual reports, so you can easily analyse the data over the long term.

What is GEO RIGA?

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GEO RIGA is a centralised publishing platform of geospatial data maintained in municipal structural units created by the Riga City Municipality. GEO RIGA serves the municipality to initiate a dialogue – data exchange with society, providing access to geospatial data about the administrative territory of Riga City to various societal groups, including residents, neighbourhood activists, investors and entrepreneurs, innovation creators and researchers, other state and municipality institutions.

What is the purpose?

The purpose of GEO RIGA is to give an easy and simple access to the geospatial data held by the municipality – to view, combine and use the data for own needs. The availability of data that reflect the current situation in the city increases the transparency of the municipality work and allows the user receive data services easily and conveniently, supporting social and economic initiatives. In the GEO RIGA thematic maps, it is possible to view the basic data of Riga in various combinations, including cadastral and address information, graphic parts of Riga territorial plans, information on the immovable property of the municipality and its companies, waste management in Riga and other data.

What the benefits are?

GEO RIGA provides remote and convenient access to the geospatial information held by the municipality, allows to combine various geospatial information available on the portal without using intermediaries – licensed software or paid services, reduces the need for individuals to turn to institutions for information and advice, gradually, it will ensure effective communication and feedback, for example, for public consultation, survey, and similar cases, supporting the society’s desire to be informed and participate in the city’s development processes.

Smart lights in Ķīpsala have helped the municipality save more than 4600 euros

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In 2022, thanks to the introduction of smart lighting in three streets of Ķīpsala, the Riga municipality managed to save 4685.44 euros, resulting in a 79% reduction in electricity costs compared to the previous year. The project was implemented by Tet in collaboration with Riga City Council, the municipal agency “Rīgas gaisma,” Riga Technical University, and the subsidiary of Draugiem Group, Idea Lights. The smart lighting system, which consists of low-consumption LED lights, Latvian-made smart controllers, and motion sensors, was installed in 66 lamp posts on Āzenes, Ķīpsalas, and Zunda coastline.

The Chairman of Tet’s board, Uldis Tatarčuks, mentioned that the Smart Cities initiative is one of Tet’s innovative projects, aiming not only to improve the environment, energy efficiency, and test technologies in real-life scenarios but also to demonstrate immediate financial results. The pilot project in Ķīpsala has proven to be successful, with significant savings achieved for the municipality. Before implementing the smart solution, the monthly cost per lamp post was around 17 euros during autumn and winter. However, with the dimming option introduced in the smart lighting, the cost reduced to just 3.30 euros per post.

Armands Jukums from Riga City Council’s City Development Department expressed high appreciation for the collaboration with Tet and emphasized the city’s goal to promote innovative technology testing in smart city pilot areas to provide more convenient municipal services for residents and stimulate rapid economic growth. The city remains open to future initiatives from Tet and other companies in the field of smart technology to address urban challenges and achieve climate targets, aspiring to become one of the first 100 climate-neutral cities in Europe.

Tet plans to increase the dimming range to maximize energy savings in the future. Currently, the light intensity amplitude is set at 100% during motion and 70% during still periods. However, Tet aims to test intensity reduction down to 20% during idle times, significantly reducing energy consumption and cost.

In addition to the smart lighting, a Tet environmental and air sensor station has been operational in Ķīpsala for two months. It provides data on air quality, temperature, humidity, noise, wind strength, and UV radiation levels. So far, the sensor data has met the requirements of the European Air Quality Index, and comparisons have been made with data from Riga City Council and Latvia’s Environmental, Geological, and Meteorological Center. Moreover, data from motion sensors in the smart lighting system also provide traffic intensity information, allowing observations on the correlation between air quality and traffic intensity, although other factors may also influence air quality.

Tet will continue to collect and compare this data with traffic intensity and data from artificial intelligence cameras installed earlier in the year. To ensure data quality, a new sensor station will be installed near the national air monitoring station in central Riga. These stations and data will be vital in assessing the quality of the surrounding environment, making improvements, and measuring their effectiveness in the journey towards climate neutrality.

Riga supports testing of electric car charging stations at Ķīpsala using street lighting poles

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Following the conclusion of the project competition, Riga Municipality will co-finance the installation and testing of innovative technologies in Ķīpsala with SimpleCharge Ltd’s solution for using street lighting poles for charging electric vehicles.

“SimpleCharge” has developed easy-to-install electric car charging stations for use at city lighting poles. This both facilitates the installation of the charging stations and opens up the potential of a large charging network, especially in apartment blocks.

The business idea has won recognition at the 2021 VEFRESH Urban Mobility Hackathon. Currently, the first prototype has been installed in Apes Street, Riga. SimpleCharge plans to raise funding for the development of additional charging stations, both to improve their design and integration into lighting lanterns, and to better prepare technical solutions for production.

Riga Municipality will provide funding of EUR 3,345 for the installation of four charging stations for a trial period and also for dismantling at the Riga Technical University, Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering, 12 Āzenes Street, Ķīpsala, under the programme “Support for Technology Installation in Smart City Technology Pilot Territories”.

“Our aim was to support promising solutions and technologies that could have a practical application in the capital and become an exportable product or service in the future, so the quality of the applications is crucial. Given that a major challenge for the development of the electric car network is the availability of charging stations in apartment blocks, the SimpleCharge team has found a promising solution that uses existing city infrastructure,” explains Inese Andersone, Chair of the Riga City Council’s Urban Development Committee.

The aim of the programme is to facilitate easier access to Riga City Council services and better use of the potential of new technologies for the city’s economic growth by promoting the deployment of smart city technologies in the urban environment. Innovative, knowledge- and technology-based companies that need support to test already developed technology prototypes in the urban environment or to obtain data in the smart city technology pilot areas identified by the municipality – VEF neighbourhood, Tornakalns, Ķīpsala – were especially invited to apply for municipal support.