Smart City Technology in Chico

 Smart City technology could overall make Chico a more accessible town. As it stands, Chico only has a handful of bus lines, and while they cover most of the city, they take a very long time to reach certain bus stops, especially since most, if not all of them, start in downtown and slowly make their way out to other parts of town such as Notre Dame Blvd or over near the movie theater. Being able to coordinate these busses better, especially having increased frequency during peak hours would be incredibly helpful for those without a car – specifically students, and decrease the number of overall cars on the road which would be beneficial environmentally speaking as well as more cost efficient for the general public. Another benefit that has already been seen in many other cities is having a higher tech bus tracking system. As it stands, we have to either rely on a paper schedule, or use an app that I have found to be a little delayed and at times confusing to use. Being able to see in real time when busses are coming, especially when there are delays, route changes, or other issues, is incredibly helpful for planning. 

Additionally, implementing smart city technology could help with traffic control and management, specifically surrounding the train tracks. There have been several instances where I am trying to get somewhere and all of a sudden a train comes along and delays traffic for 10-15 minutes. Being able to coordinate around a train schedule and receive more advanced warning when trains are coming and going would likely improve traffic flow, and potentially aid in preventing train-related traffic accidents.  

There are still lots of concerns involving other aspects of smart city technology, including privacy and data concerns, overall safety concerns involving technology such as drones, and of course energy consumption. Arguably, we already gave up much of our privacy when the world adopted smartphones as a part of our everyday lives, so I do strongly believe that the positives outweigh the negatives.