This week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new program to install speed limiting devices on the city’s fleet vehicles.
On August 11, Adams announced a new pilot program to install active intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology in 50 city fleet vehicles to prevent operators from exceeding the the local speed limit.
“Unlike similar speed reduction technology, the active ISA program installed in the city fleet will not just set a maximum speed for the vehicle but will also be adaptable based on the local speed limit. There are two modalities of ISA: active and passive. With the active system, if the operator of a fleet vehicle attempts to drive over the local speed limit, the ISA technology will activate and slow the vehicle down automatically. Alternately, the passive system will alert the driver when they are driving above the speed limit. DCAS will also be expanding passive driver alerts through the city’s existing telematics system,” the New York City government said.
The pilot program will cost $80,000 and will include vehicles from agencies including the New York City Department of Transportation, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), the New York City Department of Corrections (DOC), the New York City Business Integrity Commission (BIC), and NYC Parks.
“Speed governors can reduce fuel costs and, more importantly, save lives,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “During my time at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, I proudly supported a policy to mandate this innovative technology for 18-wheelers. I’m thrilled to see DCAS adopt this new pilot program and look forward to building on the administration’s ambitious efforts to tackle the epidemic of deadly speeding on city streets.”
“Speeding ruins lives, so we must take action to prevent it, and New York City is leading by example by implementing new technology to reduce speeds on city fleet vehicles,” said Mayor Adams. “Our streets must be livable for everyone, and this technology will ensure that speeding is impossible in city vehicles. We must ensure that everyone can share the street space safely, because traffic safety is public safety.”