(RFID World Canada) City assets are now being monitored by HisTREE.net RFID tags, in Fort Saskatchewan, which is located just North of Edmonton. The tags are being attached to park furniture equipment, on trees and other city assets. Hundreds of the RFID tags were attached to trees in the city earlier this year to maintain trees and make sure that enough watering and pruning was being done regularly. City tracking of trees became much more feasible and efficient after the installment of such tags.
The manpower needed for monitoring trees and parks in the city has drastically decreased after the use of RFID tags because they replaced the previous procedure which involved visual inspections of trees one by one. After getting positive feedback on the system, the city is now equipping playground equipment, garbage cans, and burying tags underground to enhance maintenance procedures.
With the enactment of such a system, city workers are now able to maintain and update city records of parks, trees, locations, inspections and other maintenance activities as they happen in real time. A permanent electronic record is kept by the city which can be viewed online to check if a certain piece of equipment has not been monitored. This helps to alleviate safety hazards. Also, the information can be used to make decisions about upgrading, replacing or repairing the equipment.
In the future, the city plans to use such tags to monitor and inspect fire hydrants, track city signage, to keep a record of when they have been replaced.
