The Safe Streets Nova Scotia (Mi'kma'ki) Network
Canada
The Safe Streets Nova Scotia (Mi'kma'ki) Network
Children across Nova Scotia (Mi’kma’ki) deserve to have safe streets in the communities where they live and grow. But a focus on motor vehicles as the dominant way to move around and between communities has robbed our children of safe spaces to move and play independently. As a consequence, active mobility for children has declined dramatically, with only 16% of children and youth walking or wheeling to and from school in Nova Scotia, compared to 24% elsewhere in Canada (source: Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey 2018/19).
The Safe Streets Nova Scotia (Mi'kma'ki) network seeks to better understand patterns of traffic in and around the places where children might be expected to be - our schools and residential neighbourhoods - to identify issues that make our streets less safe for children to move independently and raise awareness of evidence-informed solutions.
We're inviting residents, businesses and organizations who are interested in safe streets to host a device, subject to meeting the technical requirements outlined below. The ideal location would be on a street that leads to/from a child-friendly destination (schools, parks, etc) and that has multi-modal traffic (that means different types of transportation - walking, wheeling, cars and buses).
Technical Requirements:
The sensors need to be installed indoors and are mounted on the inside of a window that looks out at the street. Generally, the technical requirements include:
• A clear view (no curtains, no shutters, no big trees etc.) of the street
• 1st / 2nd floor positioning so that there is a good vantage point
• Not too far from the street (max. +-15m)
• The camera needs to be aimed at the middle of the road
• Not near traffic lights or junctions
• No movement not related to traffic (e.g., banners, signs or flags)
• Have power from a nearby socket
The data we are collecting are open to everyone and you can see on the map approximately where the devices are located (although not the specific address) and what the volume of cars, larger vehicles, people walking and people cycling is at any given time or date. Traffic is counted anonymously, and no identifiable images or videos are saved or transferred from the devices.
If you have any questions or queries or would like to know more, please contact safestreetsns@dal.ca
If you would like to host a device and meet the technical requirements above, please apply as a candidate through the accompanying tab.