The Virginian city will deploy the Rubicon smart city platform to improve residential waste services and bolster its commitment to sustainability.
The US city of Norfolk, Virginia, is rolling out a smart city pilot programme aimed at improving the residential waste services at more than 61,000 locations.
Norfolk’s goal is to enhance its municipal solid waste (MSW) and yard waste offerings, both in terms of sustainability and customer service, through the integration of technology from Rubicon.
Six-month pilot
Starting in July, the City of Norfolk’s Department of Public Works will use the RubiconSmartCity platform for the pilot over a six-month period
The city has some 60 sanitation vehicles running more than 90 routes per week that service 61,000 locations, all of which will form part of the platform launch.
The smart city platform includes a smartphone loaded with the customised Rubicon application, as well as an on-board computer plug-in device. Both will be placed in the city’s Department of Public Work’s collection vehicles.
An additional set of on-board plug-in devices will be placed in 10 of Norfolk’s supervisory vehicles. The Rubicon technology will allow for the collection of real time service confirmations, provide GPS vehicle tracking, and enable documentation of any driver issues or the inability to successfully complete a pick-up.
The RubiconSmartCity manager portal will collect all the data and analytics and provide the city real time route updates, daily reporting, and operational insights.
“The city of Norfolk has always prided itself on our sustainability mission and commitment to the environment, and combining that commitment with ways to maximise the value-add of our services to our citizens,” said Richard Broad, director of public works for the city of Norfolk.
“We are very excited to begin working with Rubicon to implement [its] smart city solution across our fleet of vehicles, and we look forward to leveraging the findings to the benefit of our great city.”
“Rubicon is remaking the entire landscape of waste and recycling through innovative technology and data analysis that helps cities of all sizes make smarter decisions about waste, recycling, and city operations,” added Michael Allegretti, chief strategy officer at Rubicon.
“Using [our platform], the City of Norfolk will be able to leverage data pulled from its fleet in real-time to plan optimised routes, track vehicle location, and confirm service at every location, ensuring that Norfolk continues to realise measurable gains in terms of quality of life, customer service, and taxpayer savings.”
The city of Norfolk is home to more than 247,000 residents in a 66 square-mile area. It is also home to the world’s largest naval base, and it serves as the North American headquarters for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).
