Real-world smart city deployments at ITS World Congress

Sony Semiconductor Solutions is showcasing two groundbreaking municipal deployments of its advanced edge artificial intelligence (AI) sensing technologies at ITS World Congress, which is taking place in Atlanta 24-28 August.

The road safety initiative in Lakewood, Colorado, and a comprehensive traffic management pilot with the City of San José, California, illustrate how Sony’s specialised semiconductor and camera technologies are helping local governments enhance safety, manage public space, and support more efficient and equitable urban mobility.

AI processing on the edge

In Lakewood, Sony’s intelligent vision sensors, which enable AI processing on the edge, are supporting a traffic safety initiative focused on reducing collisions and near-misses at high-risk intersections and mid-block corridors.

The system provides precise, real-time detection of vehicle movements, pedestrian crossings – even in challenging lighting or weather conditions – helping city officials improve vulnerable road users’ (VRUs) safety toward the city’s Vision Zero goal.

“By combining high-performance AI capable intelligent vision sensors with data applications, we’re helping cities respond to rapidly evolving transportation patterns and infrastructure needs”

As part of a pilot led by San José’s Department of Transportation, the city is exploring new ways to improve traffic data collection using advanced AI sensing technologies. Traditionally, traffic studies have relied on temporary surveys – often capturing just a few days of data – which can miss long-term patterns and seasonal fluctuations. By deploying a permanent monitoring system, the city gains continuous, high-accuracy data on vehicle counts, speeds, travel directions, as well as pedestrian and bicycle activity.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions claimed initial evaluations show over 95 per cent accuracy in tracking directional traffic flows, offering a more complete picture of roadway use. This richer dataset supports better-informed decisions around transportation planning, safety improvements, and infrastructure investments. In addition to traffic analysis, the same system architecture has the potential to support a variety of other smart city applications, including kerb space management, illegal dumping detection, safer crosswalk monitoring, and asset protection in areas vulnerable to cable theft or vandalism.