The New York City Department of Transportation will implement the Savari SmartCross Vehicle-to-Pedestrian communication system. The first real-world deployment of the system will use a mobile phone app in sync with the Savari cloud software to provide information on traffic lights to pedestrians.

China and Japan are developing high-tech cities to test artificial intelligence, automated vehicles and robots. Their work goes beyond what most US cities are able or willing to do, writes Joann Muller, who suggests that San Juan, Puerto Rico, with its precarious power grid and weakened infrastructure, could be an ideal place to incorporate new technologies during rebuilding.

Flood Lab is a research partnership through which eight universities access First Street Foundation's flood-risk model, which the schools are using to evaluate the economic effects of flooding in the US. The results are set to become publicly searchable by home address via an online database in the first half of this year.

Two communities in Wisconsin -- Eau Claire and Appleton -- have reported an increase in accidental 911 calls from Apple Watches, smart home systems and other devices. Police advise residents to consider turning off or modifying the emergency settings on their devices and to stay on the line if they accidentally dial 911 so they can tell a dispatcher there's no emergency.

Vendors of smart city infrastructure suggested fiscally strained communities should pursue private-public partnerships and work with city agencies to centralize their efforts and consider levying usage fees to fund their smart city initiatives. "This is a destination, not a journey. We're talking about decades and decades of investment," said George Karayannis of Panasonic's CityNow.

Data-sharing partnerships among ports, trucks, departments of transportation, city representatives and law enforcement can make freight transportation more efficient, according to speakers at the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting. For instance, data can divert truck drivers from road work or routes that are inefficient or present other obstacles, notes Meritage Point Consulting's Keith Wine.

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the US, SmartBrief will not publish Monday. Publication will resume Wednesday.