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Skip Descant

Skip Descant writes about smart cities, the Internet of Things, transportation and other areas for Government Technology magazine.

News

With Connectivity as Its Goal, BEAD May Be Tech-Agnostic

The North Star for the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program is comprehensive connectivity for all homes and businesses, officials said at the Connecting Communities Summit. That could come through fiber or fixed wireless.

November 19, 2024
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News

Equity Is a Key Focus for Oakland Broadband Work

The Bay Area city is making high-speed Internet more accessible with projects focused on affordability and service delivery and aimed at closing the digital divide. A California Public Utilities Commission grant is among the funding sources.

October 15, 2024
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News

Plan to Build a City from Scratch Takes a Pause

A ballot measure that would have let voters decide the fate of a massive land development project in Solano County has been called off.

August 05, 2024
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News

South Pasadena PD Fleet Goes Nearly All Electric

The South Pasadena Police Department has adopted 20 Tesla vehicles in a push to take its entire fleet of patrol and administrative vehicles electric.

July 31, 2024
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News

State Weighs Cuts to Middle-Mile Broadband Build

“So now, we at CDT will have to go through the process of deciding, well, given the funding that we currently have, how will we best proceed?” said Mark Monroe, deputy director of California’s Middle-Mile Broadband Initiative.

June 07, 2024
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News

Rob Lloyd Leaving San Jose for CTO Role in Seattle

The award-winning executive with a deep background in government technology most recently served as the deputy city manager for the city of San Jose, a role to which he was promoted from chief information officer.

May 30, 2024
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News

Tomorrow’s Bus Stops Today: L.A. Plans Digital Shelters

A $30 million project to modernize bus shelters in Los Angeles considers them as mobility hubs that could house modern amenities like digital screens, e-bike and e-scooter docking, dimmable lights and movable shade structures.

May 07, 2024
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News

County Leaders Lobby for Extension of Affordable Internet

California county supervisors were among the members of the National Association of Counties who went in Washington, D.C., to urge Congress to extend funding for a program providing subsidies to help low-income households afford broadband Internet service.

February 23, 2024
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News

Electric Car-Share Operation Expands in California

Míocar, a nonprofit car-sharing platform, is expanding its reach across the Central Valley, bringing electric vehicles and expanded transportation options to low-income communities.

January 23, 2024
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News

Congested Region Explores New Form of Autonomous Mobility

Transportation officials in the San Francisco Bay Area are working on a plan to use Glydcars — small, electric and autonomous vehicles — to make last-mile connections to more traditional forms of transit.

January 03, 2024
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News

California Leads States in Shift Toward Electric Vehicles

California continues to be the outlying leader in the transition to EVs. Some 21 percent of new car sales were electric this year. Forty percent of zero-emission vehicles sold in the United States are sold in the state.

July 05, 2023
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News

Range, Cost Are Headwinds Facing Heavy-Duty Trucks Sector

California and some other states are already moving forward with adopting new rules to require the transition of truck fleets to zero-emission vehicles, with drayage fleets serving large ports to be fully electric by 2035.

June 29, 2023
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News

In Long Beach Smart City Initiative, Residents Can Guide Tech Work

The Long Beach Collaboratory has been created to provide a new form of citizen engagement where residents can be chosen to join collaborative teams to identify technology pilot projects for their neighborhoods.

June 08, 2023
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News

Oakland Sets Up Digital ‘Smart Loading Zones’

More than 380 loading zones in Oakland will be turned into smart zones, allowing for commercial fleets — like parcel and other deliveries — to seamlessly park and pay by the minute.

February 10, 2023
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News

State Is Primed for a Massive Build-Out of EV Charging

California plans to invest more than $5.5 billion in state funding toward electric vehicle charging infrastructure and incentive programs. This is in addition to some $384 million in federal funding.

December 20, 2022
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News

California Clearing Way for Easy, Contactless Transit

A partnership among state agencies in California and a local transit provider has developed an easy-to-use app where seniors can quickly confirm their eligibility for their fare discount, and then simply tap their credit or debit card as they board the bus.

October 13, 2022
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News

Silicon Valley City Invests in Battery, Storage Production

Fremont has long been the manufacturing hub of the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem, but it is quickly becoming a focal point in the battery and green energy storage space as the need for the technology increases.

September 16, 2022
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News

Regional Agencies Are Best Poised to Manage Micromobility

Regional government organizations in Sacramento and Denver have taken an oversight and data collection role in micromobility operations, showing that they are well-positioned to navigate these planning efforts.

May 18, 2022
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News

L.A. Metro Turns to Technology in Bus Lane Enforcement

L.A. Metro has turned to technology to monitor and enforce dedicated bus lane rules. Metro plans to issue a request for proposals this summer that would identify a technology partner for wider application on other bus routes.

April 11, 2022
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News

Curb Enthusiasm: New Attitudes, Digital Options Emerge on Urban Spaces

Cities like Los Angeles worked fast during the COVID-19 pandemic to radically change the way we think about sidewalks, curbs and parking areas. Many of the changes government and businesses made, some through technology, are here to stay.

April 06, 2022
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News

California Bill Looks to Better Coordinate Bay Area Transit

A bill introduced in the state Legislature aims to make the transit experience across the San Francisco Bay Area’s 27 providers more seamless. The bill would appoint a regional commission to lead the effort.

March 04, 2022
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News

Transit Agency Offers Contactless Fare-Payment App

A new no-touch fare system at Santa Maria Regional Transit is making rides free for students at the local community college. The change has made the system more efficient on several levels.

March 02, 2022
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News

San Jose Chooses Its Next Chief Innovation Officer

The city’s pick for the C-level post comes from within City Hall and brings with him a dedication to digital inclusion.

January 20, 2022
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News

Big Transit Agency Introduces Public Wi-Fi Security App

LA Secure, a new free app for riders of buses and trains across the Los Angeles Metro system, alerts riders of malicious links, rogue Wi-Fi signals and other cybersecurity threats associated with using public transit Wi-Fi.

January 14, 2022
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Contactless Payment Gains Across State Transit

The California Department of General Services has issued a request for proposal to make it easier for transit providers in the state to acquire the needed hardware and software to support contactless payment systems.

August 20, 2021
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News

Data and Analytics at Heart of San Diego Mobility Plan

A traffic signal upgrade project will involve 26 intersections around the University of California, San Diego. The project will use adaptive software to enhance mobility across the region.

August 10, 2021
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News

AI Is Helping This City Get a Handle on Short-Term Rentals

La Quinta, in Southern California’s lush Coachella Valley, has turned to an AI-powered solution that mines real estate transactions and other data to zero in on the homes that are operating as unpermitted vacation rentals.

August 03, 2021
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News

SoCal City Sets Sights on ‘Frictionless’ Citizen Experience

A plan to modernize IT and better enable a work-from-anywhere posture in Santa Monica served the city well when the COVID-19 pandemic reshuffled city services and how they are delivered.

June 28, 2021
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News

Long Beach Among 3 Cities in Augmented Reality Pilot

Three augmented reality projects have been awarded $20,000 each by US Ignite to develop projects that use AR technology to address city concerns like transportation, education or health care.

March 02, 2021
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News

Transit Agencies Partner on New Ticketing App

Ticketing and trip-planning across some half-dozen transit providers in San Joaquin County have been brought under one app, allowing for an easy jump for riders moving from one system to another.

January 05, 2021
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