Civic Tech

The 32-year-old MTA MetroCard will cease operations Dec. 31, but other fare cards are coming. NJ Transit will debut one in just a few months, and PATH is in the works on a card for its new TAPP system.

The Pennsylvania city has met several major milestones in the past year in its journey to improve city services with technology. In the year ahead, officials will continue modernizing systems and processes.

Yuba City and Marysville would participate with Yuba and Sutter counties in joining an integrated public safety information system. The endeavor is contingent on the former county securing a $2.6 million federal grant.

The pilot with a tech company, underway until mid-April, adds artificial intelligence to several existing security cameras in the city. The software will have a human verify a weapon has been seen before notification.

The City Council signed off recently on spending $240,000 for 32 automatic license plate reader cameras, and three surveillance cameras. Two members did, however, express concerns about privacy and surveillance.

Leaders in Macon-Bibb County, Ga., are reporting a decrease in homicides in 2024, after using artificial intelligence in policing programs and youth outreach. The crimes declined by 2.5 percent from 2023.

As part of its proposed 2025-2026 fiscal year budget, Maggie Valley Police Department is seeking funding for the two cameras. Their installation would connect the department to data from a national camera network.

Local IT leaders in California and Delaware wield innovation and collaboration to reimagine technology, integrating community dialog into modernization to deliver projects that reflect a variety of feedback.

The Sawyer Free Library received the funding in the form of a Digital Equity Initiative Partnership Grant. The money, from the Essex County Community Foundation, will launch its digital learning lab.

The city’s commission has approved the purchase of three drones at a cost of more than $15,000. Police, who have 10 licensed drone pilots, will use them in searches, rescues, and to follow fleeing suspects.

A joint program between the city and the Sacramento Regional Transit District is fielding 100 buses with forward-facing cameras powered by artificial intelligence. The devices spot vehicles blocking bus stops.

The app, funded with $13,860 approved by the Delaware County Council, would offer important information and improved communication with the city. Leaders hope it can be developed and launched by summer.

The city has strengthened its cybersecurity efforts, using artificial intelligence to analyze more than 1 million pieces of incoming communication and protecting employees from impersonation attempts and data theft.

New Mexico’s most populous city went live late last month with a new way to submit planning requests. Users can now make permit and construction project applications, payments and register businesses online.

The Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania serves 150 member entities representing more than 1,700 people. The goal, its president said, is to identify local problems — and offer local answers.

The county’s board of commissioners has approved a service agreement with a new vendor to upgrade software at its building department. The move will facilitate work with cities and conversations with customers.

A new program is teaching a small group of incarcerated men the tools of a new trade — coding and web design — in the hopes that it can help the men succeed when they are released.

Billboards from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and speed camera warning signs on freeway off-ramps and in bus shelters are intended to caution drivers as more than 50 of the devices arrive in March.