Smart City Projects

The Footscray Smart City for Social Cohesion (SC²) Project stemmed from the Footscray University Town initiative, a partnership between Council and Victoria University which combines efforts of both organisations to align University, business and community interests and activities.

The SC² Project was designed to use smart technologies to improve city performance and citizen experience, creating a smarter, more digitally engaged city. Smart movement counter sensors, air quality sensors, smart lighting, digital kiosks and an expansion of the free public wifi network are some of the key smart technology initiatives that were implemented across Footscray with installation of the smart hardware completed in July 2020.

A range of data from the smart sensors is being collected and VU students have been accessing data for use as part of their project work.

For further information on the SC² Project, please see our media release A smarter, more digitally-engaged Footscray (29 January 2021).

If you would like to find out more about this project and opportunities to be involved in making Footscray a more digitally engaged city, then please get in touch with our Smart City team by email to smartcity@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au

Image:  Smart City movement counter installed on the Town Hall roof.

Image: Smart Kiosk installed in Nicholson Mall, Footscray

The Quarry Park Mountain Bike Trail has been a popular recent addition to the many recreational options in the City of Maribyrnong.  While, anecdotally it was observed that the trail was popular there was no hard evidence.  A Smart City solution was devised that to install a simple solar powered infrared counter system at the top of the trail that counts every time a cyclist uses one of the 3 trail options.  The counter has been in operation since December 2020 and feeds data back to the Smart City Data Dashboard via a LoRaWAN connection.

With the counter operating 24/7, the understanding of the results have been startling, with some months seeing over 20,000 individual uses of the trails. (Note:  The same rider will be counter multiple times if they re-use the trails)  With the time-stamped data it is helping understand the best maintenance schedule to ensure the trail is kept in prime condition for users.

Image:  Quarry Park Mountain Bike Trail - Smart Counter System

Building on the success of the Quarry Park Mountain Bike Trail - Smart Counter, a network of remotely located counters have been trialed in various locations around the municipality.  These smart counters are all solar powered with a battery that enables them to run 'off-grid'.  The data is fed back via the Smart City Data Dashboard, and is being used by Council to help understand bike path usage patterns and to advocate for additional funding to improve the path network.

You can see live counter data from these remote sensors on the Smart City Data Dashboard.

Image:  Bike Path network Smart Counter in action on Hyde Street.

MARIality is an app developed by Council which uses augmented reality to bring art to life.  First trialed as part of the 2021 Christmas program, the app was used to help animate Christmas activity sheets for children, as well as to bring 4 large street murals to life.  While Christmas has come and gone, the app is still active and available to use at the 4 street art locations.

• Maidstone: 1 Commercial Street – Four Crows by Justine McAllister @justinemcallister
• Seddon: Young Street - Crazy Critters curated by Ross Thomasson on behalf of the Seddon Vet Hospital and featuring artists like: @heesco, @putospaint, @caper.aust and @dvate amongst others.
• West Footscray: 547B Barkly Street – Buzz Barber Jungle by Makatron
• Yarraville: Canterbury Street – Trugo Tram by Peter McMahon

Expect to see more art coming to life in the near future, as this technology helps us reimagine our city.  

You can download the MARIality App for free from the Android and Apple App stores

Image:  'Crazy Critters' coming to life via Augmented Reality in Seddon

A free public wifi network was first installed in Footscray in 2016.   This public wifi network was initiated as as stand-alone project however became a key component of the Smart City for Social Cohesion project as the network was expanded further around the CBD and also north to Footscray Park, and is utilised to help run the new Smart City devices being installed.

The network has been designed to be user friendly and ensure that user privacy and data-security are protected, while providing a high speed wifi service that encourages people to linger longer in the Footscray CBD and use businesses and services in the precinct.

Smart Parking sensors have been in use in the City of Maribyrnong for a number of years.  With over 3,500 sensors installed in Council owned and managed carparking bays across the municipality, a rich data source is available that helps Council manage parking in a fair and efficient manner based on actual data.  It also assists with planning and decision making around ongoing parking time-restrictions.

Residents and visitors are able to access online live data to view available parking and help plan trips.  You can view a live parking data feed on the Smart City Data Dashboard.

Image:  Smart Parking sensors help manage on-street public parking