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Post Falls signs one‑year traffic‑data contract amid privacy and cost questions; two councilors vote no
Summary
The City approved a $32,750, one‑year contract with Urban SDK to license vehicle‑derived traffic and speed data for the prior 12 months and daily-updated speeds. Council debate focused on the data's representativeness, privacy safeguards (vendor provides 'washed' aggregate data), and seat licensing costs; two council members voted against the contract.
The Post Falls City Council approved a one‑year licensing agreement with Urban SDK to acquire vehicle‑derived traffic volumes and speed data covering the city’s road network. The contract price is $32,750 and includes data for the prior 12 months, daily-updated speed information and three user seats for city staff. Funding will come from traffic‑impact fees.
City engineer Robert Paulus said the product supplies a continuous, year‑long view of average daily traffic and hourly distributions across every roadway segment — data that staff said is more robust than single‑day, multi‑hour spot counts. Paulus described the vendor data as “washed” aggregated telemetry (no driver identity or identifiable video provided) and said the data can help prioritize engineering fixes and help police identify hotspots for targeted enforcement.
Council members raised two recurring concerns: (1) representativeness and accuracy (the vendor extrapolates from connected vehicles to estimate total volumes) and (2) cost structure, particularly a substantial portion of the purchase price attributed to per‑user licensing. Council debated whether to start with a single seat or two seats and add users later; several members urged a smaller initial purchase or vendor confirmation that seats can be added affordably later.
Chief Brennan said the police department could find the data useful to triage enforcement but did not insist on being a licensee. Several councilors voiced privacy concerns about third‑party telemetry, even as staff emphasized the vendor supplies only aggregate counts and speeds.
On the roll call the contract was approved with two dissenting votes (Stig leader and Councilmember Luca). Staff will proceed with onboarding and training for whichever unit-seat configuration is finalized in the contract and will report back on operational use.
