– We have to get them out before it gets slippery. That’s what Rune Gåre, advisor for the smart city department of Stavanger municipality, says. The purpose is to make the job of salting and spreading more predictable. The sensor notifies you of driving conditions. In other words, about when the municipality should sprinkle or salt the road. – By sharing information about driving conditions with the public via an app, we may be able to avoid accidents, says Rune Gåre. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – Instead of municipal employees having to drive out at night and check if the roads are slippery, they can now check the conditions from home on their mobile, says Gåre. Close to 150 sensors are now placed in the asphalt along several roads in five municipalities in Nord-Jæren. Measures the average speed The sensors measure air humidity, whether the road is wet or dry and the amount of salt on the asphalt. In addition, the number of cars passing and the vehicles’ average speed are counted. Here Stavanger municipality places a road sensor right next to a primary school in the city. Photo: Stavanger municipality The plan for the Smart City is to share the data with both schools and businesses. Then you can see how many cars drive in and out of the cities with a view to shopping patterns and the like. In addition, you can get reliable figures on how much traffic there is around, for example, primary schools. – We can get quite a lot of useful information from these meters, says Ruth P. Brand, advisor for traffic safety in Stavanger municipality. Brand says that they are very concerned about making the school roads in the municipality even more safe, and that they will use the statistics on how much traffic there is around primary schools in particular. Ruth P. Brand is an advisor for traffic safety in Stavanger municipality. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news The information the sensors provide is useful for seeing which roads are most often used at which times. And whether motorists actually keep to the given speed limit. At the same time, Stavanger Municipality believes that those with the sensors can save both money and the environment. The goal is for the tool to contribute to reaching Stavanger’s climate goals for 2030 (external link). – If we can use less salt, it is good for the environment. It will save budgets to use less salt, says Brand. More tasks, but not more employees The purpose of the technology is efficiency. – We reduce manual effort. A job that was previously done by the employees is now done by an inspector 24/7, in real time, says Årstein Skjæveland, municipal manager in Gjesdal municipality. In Gjesdal municipality, they report on more and more tasks, without more people being hired to carry out the work. This has meant that they now have to think differently. – We need relief, and we need to think anew, says Skjæveland. – With this technology, we are more environmentally friendly and we use our money smarter, says Skjæveland. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news The sensors that are now placed in various roads in Rogaland are inspired by a similar sensor project a little further south in Europe. – These are used a lot in large cities such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam, says Gåre. The road sensors that are now being placed in Stavanger, Sandnes, Sola, Tysvær and Gjesdal can measure several things at the same time. With continuous updates, the information from the round technical aids can contribute to less driving and that there is no unnecessary salting. Sensor technology can make maintenance work such as bedding in winter more predictable. Photo: Stavanger municipality The Mjøs region in Norway also has similar road sensors. The project is financed with innovation funds from the State Administrator. Digi Rogaland, a digitization body for all the municipalities in the county, has received a total of NOK 1.5 million for the work. The sensors neither register the car number nor who is sitting in the vehicle, only that the car passes.
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This sensor warns of slippery roads – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
