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Saginaw council approves one-year Urban SDK traffic-data license amid privacy concerns
Summary
The council approved a $23,725, one-year base-plan license with Urban SDK for traffic and speed analytics. Supporters said it will speed data collection and reduce hazardous fieldwork; some council members raised consumer-data and AI-modeling privacy concerns. Vote was 8–1.
The Saginaw City Council approved a one-year, $23,725 license with Urban SDK for traffic-data analytics on Aug. 11, with supporters saying the service will speed traffic studies and reduce the need for staff to place manual counters in roadways. The contract passed on a roll-call vote of 8–1.
City staff described the product as a software platform that accesses anonymized third‑party vehicle telematics to provide traffic volumes and speed data for planning and engineering requests. Phil, a public‑services/engineering staff member, told the council the data source currently covers roughly 35–40% of vehicles and that Urban SDK projects the percentage will grow to 80–90% within several years. He said the city will run an initial yearlong test, pick several corridors where the city already places counters, and compare Urban SDK outputs with the city’s manual counts to check accuracy.
Supporters said the service will speed responses to citizen requests about speeding and cut down on the unsafe, labor‑intensive practice of placing temporary tubes and counters in the street. The city manager and engineering staff emphasized safety and efficiency benefits; the city engineer, Travis, and staff said manual counters currently cost roughly $8,000–$12,000 apiece and that using the software could free staff for other work.
At least one council member voiced concerns about commercial collection and resale of vehicle telematics and the use of AI modeling on repackaged consumer data. That council member said they were uncomfortable encouraging third parties to repurpose live location data when consumer consent and data practices are not fully transparent. Councilmember Carly R. Hammond cast the lone recorded “no” vote on the measure during roll call.
The approved purchase is a one‑year base plan license. Staff said they will evaluate performance within the first three to six months and run parallel counts on selected corridors for validation. If the pilot is successful, the city may expand usage and compare operational costs versus continued manual counting.
The council’s vote on Aug. 11 authorizes the city to enter the one‑year Urban SDK license for the Public Services Department — Engineering. The purchase passed 8–1 by roll call.
