Urban resiliency through an interconnected and responsive transportation infrastructure.
Collaborators: Felix Ho & Shinyoung Park
My Roles:
• Service Design
• Systems Mapping
• Information Design
Challenge
Due to rise in sea level and increased frequency in large storms, New York City is expected to experience catastrophic floods every five years by 2030 to 2045. Using this as a lens for the future conditions of the city, how can we better the emergency response infrastructure to create more resiliency?
Opportunity
Urban Artery is a project that seeks to provide a seamless emergency response and evacuation system by integrating its auto-sensing technologies into the existing transportation infrastructure of the city. By creating a unified and centralized system, both rescuers and civilians have a more efficient roadmap giving and getting the aid they need to find safety in perilous situations.
In the Past
Emergency response in New York City has been fragmented leading to:
Inefficiencies caused by miscommunication and delay between organizations
Too much responsibility of reporting placed on user’s end
Lack of agility and flexibility in
dispatch response
Photos courtesy FEMA
Creating a Responsive City
Urban Artery works with a mapping team, UX Designers, software and hardware engineers, data security specialists, and urban planners to ensure that the reporting process is comprehensive, reliable, and centered around the user. This backend technology and planning team also ensures that the alert sensing and reporting systems help guide rescuers and resource managers as efficiently as possible.
Autonomous vehicles deployed during emergencies have sensing systems, are reconfigurable, and will contain EDC kits:
Activating the City
In addition to deploying autonomous vehicles, there will also be emergency alert systems embedded in other parts of transportation and building infrastructure of the city. Building facades will show alert and wayfinding signage, traffic lights will have an “emergency mode”, and LinkNYC devices will serve as contact points where civilians can report information about emergency situations.
Example Scenarios
Autonomous vehicles in emergency mode and a unified alert system will act as the modular elements that sense and respond to adverse situations and emergencies accordingly.
Vehicles transporting civilians to an evacuation center during a major flood
Fire Rescue
A Centralized Emergency Guideline
A disorganized alert system leads to a low willingness to evacuate emergencies.
Civilians and first responders often do not have a clear overview of the emergency response infrastructure. A central emergency response guideline is an essential component of creating a unified system.
Stakeholders
