Florence will get a state-of-the-art mobility management room

Centralizing this urban aspect is the first step of the Smart City strategy

Yesterday, 6 January, officials from Florence presented a plan for the construction of a Smart City Control Room, which will combine all the public services and stakeholders concerned with the different aspects of mobility in the Italian city in one place.

The new centre will be located in a repurposed building located next to the former Leopolda Station which will host the offices of the local Major Infrastructures and Mobility Department.

Single high-tech command centre focused on traffic management

The Smart City Control Room is a forward-thinking design, which combines all the necessary services into one spot for easier, faster and more efficient decision-making. Various operators from the city’s main services will have a station in the room. This means Silfi (the municipal lights system), SAS (road services), Publiacqua (water supply network), Toscana Energia (electrical grid), GEST (tramway management service), ATAF (the bus operator), ALIA (cleaning and waste management) and the Municipal Police.

In the middle of the room, there will be a large table where a coordinator will sit and will be able to observe the video screens installed on the oval walls of the room. Additional stations will be possible to be added.

“In the Smart City Control Room, all those involved in the management of the main urban services and roads will be present, including the Municipal Police who will have the new operations centre here,” said Mobility Councilor Stefano Giorgetti.

He explained that the objective of the room is “to measure the flow of vehicles circulating on city streets, the remote control system of traffic lights, interfacing the tramway control system with that of city traffic lights, real-time communication of critical issues on traffic due to accidents or interventions urgent, the monitoring system of the occupancy status of the structure's car parks, the availability of the bus position in real-time. It will thus be possible to monitor the mobility situation in real-time in order to intervene when needed".

The project will be financed as part of the PON Metropolitan Cities 2014-2020 programme to the tune of 1 334 000 euros.