The City of St. Albert has heard feedback from approximately 1,000 residents and businesses about the Smart City Master Plan, and plans to continue seeking feedback throughout the summer.
Travis Peter, the city’s manager of strategic and intergovernmental initiatives who is overseeing development of the plan, said the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and he’s been impressed with how engaged residents are.
In discussions about open data, which is a very technical subject, residents and businesses have expressed an understanding of the issue and provided ideas about how to use data to make life better in St. Albert.
“They see the value and can speak to the value, and they know what they are wanting and that’s all fantastic feedback,” he said.
The most prevalent concern raised where residents see opportunity for the use of data to improve conditions is in the area of transportation — not necessarily with the public transportation system but with the entire network of roadways and lights in the city.
“People are saying they’re intrigued by the notion that our system can be fully adaptive, and that wait length and times can be minimized,” Peter said. “I’d say that’s probably the top theme coming through here currently.”
Not only could lights perhaps adapt to traffic issues such as collisions or stalls when they occur, but it’s possible the system could monitor traffic patterns and actually anticipate some problems before they arise and accordingly mitigate those problems with on-the-fly adjustments to traffic signals.
“That’s kind of where we want to go,” he said. “There definitely are trends in the smart cities world that cities are moving in that direction now.”
The city has planned to reach out to residents in a variety of ways, including setting up booths at local events such as the recent lifestyle expo at Servus Place and planning a similar booth for the upcoming International Children’s Festival and the outdoor farmers’ market that opens in June.
There are also two more public input sessions planned, one for businesses on May 28 and another for youth and the general public on June 16.
While the input session held May 7 did not draw a huge crowd, with fewer than 20 residents and city staff in attendance, Peter said he’s not concerned because smaller crowds can often result in better discussion.
“When we get too big, it seems to be a bit intimidating for people,” he said.
Regardless of attendance at any particular sessions, he noted there are ample opportunities for the public to provide feedback, including online at www.stalbert.ca/smartcity.
Peter said he expects to provide city council with a summary of the public consultation some time in the fall.
