The City of Long Beach has entered into a public-private partnership with Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, with support from Mercedes-Benz USA Urban Mobility Solutions, and Xtelligent to develop transportation technology systems that will improve urban transportation management and enhance liveability and environmental sustainability in and around the city.
“This public-private partnership will keep Long Beach at the forefront of emerging transportation technologies,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “This project will showcase our city’s skilled workforce, provide more STEM learning opportunities for students, and represents our city’s continued commitment to building a technology-focused ecosystem.”
Areas of Focus
The public-private project will span a period of 10 months and will include testing an intelligent intersection control system to safely adapt traffic signal timing at select intersections, data analysis from connected test vehicle fleets and existing physical sensors around the city to provide information that may improve future transportation policy and traffic engineering decisions, and a community youth workshop for Long Beach residents and students.
In alignment with the Long Beach Accelerator Program, the partnership supports the City’s efforts to work with local businesses on leading-edge technology and civic impact while also cultivating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) opportunities for Long Beach students. Health and safety permitting, a community-based workshop will provide STEM education to local students, with an emphasis on under-resourced communities. The project is also part of Long Beach’s Smart City Initiative to leverage data and technology as strategic tools to solve challenges and improve the lives of Long Beach residents.
Sustainability & Equitable Access
The public-private partnership with Mercedes-Benz and Xtelligent reflects Long Beach’s vision to advance environmental sustainability and digital inclusion to ensure that everyone has equitable access and use of digital literacy training, the internet, technology devices, and other digital inclusion resources. Solving transportation challenges is also a focus of Mercedes-Benz, and this unique partnership offers the ability to potentially solve very real issues – congestion and its associated emissions – in urban areas.
“We are excited to partner with Xtelligent and the City of Long Beach to research solutions to urban transportation challenges,” said Philipp Skogstad, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America. “With our test vehicle fleet, we hope to provide key data to optimize traffic signal timing and reduce congestion.”
Data protection is a top priority for Mercedes-Benz, Xtelligent, and the City, and the parties are committed to using data responsibly. Mercedes-Benz and Xtelligent will only share test vehicle data with appropriate notices and consents, and any data that must be shared with third parties will be anonymized and aggregated.
Plans to Scale
The project is a joint effort between the City’s Technology and Innovation Department, Public Works Department, and Economic Development Department. Upon the pilot’s conclusion, the team will evaluate results and explore opportunities to scale the effort.
