Three common urban pollutants–carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ambient sound levels–were measured by the sensor array to create a dataset which was then plotted on a Google satellite image map and shared with a larger group of stakeholders. The vehicle made two reconnaissance trips, each roughly 20 miles long, traversing a representative cross-section of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Each trip captured a particular set of circumstances and creates a unique representation of the time at which it was created: in the “Kenny Chesney case” (see map below), elevated levels of toxins are found under a freeway overpass leading to a concert at Heinz Field.

PwO’s imaging process brought both subjective and objective measures back to observers, mirroring the ways and means through which contemporary policy decisions, especially those involving science, have been and still are made through the use of rhetorical “evidence”, as collected by sensors that document phenomena we cannot see or sense ourselves. It also points to the ways in which these sensor-generated portraits leave much out of the “picture”, representing only a brief, situated moment in time.

How does this program transform school funding from a publicly- to a privately-controlled subsidy? See diagrams below.

The “Chalk-Up” is an itinerant urban ephemera to increase opportunities for positive shared experiences in the public spaces of a neglected neighborhood and more positive representations of that neighborhood to the city at large.

Sidewalk chalk is provided for each participant to re-imagine nearby vacant lots. Polaroid and digital cameras are offered to record the proposal and proposer. A notebook holds both images, as an enduring record for all participants to examine as the project moves from block to block and as the images are worn away.

A flyer explains the project and provides contact information to provide greater transparency to the adults (often grandparents) who are always close by. All participants keep a Polaroid and a pin of their choice.

Friends of Larimer scanned multiple channels for formal and informal images of the neighborhood and plotted them to a web-based map. Transmissions via police scanner, local news media, property assessment records, interviews, and personal observations were charted. A complete image of the neighborhood gained “definition” through a greater number of data points, yet it simultaneously lost “resolution” as complexity and contradiction increased.

Paul Virilio describes an intellectual tradition of “list portraits of individuals revealed through their belongings” in his introductory text for Contraband by Taryn Simon (Steidel/Gagosian, 2009). For Inventory, Friends of Larimer removed 260 cubic feet of litter from vacant lots and sidewalks and found a flow of objects–plastic bottles, corn chips bags and candy wrappers; rotting phone books, hair extensions, and receipts–along both official and unofficial vectors of movement. Some of those objects are presented here, as an abbreviated “list-portrait” of the neighborhood.

From the presentation:
Public and private interests are colliding in physical and digital space. Organizational structures that were before infeasible due to logistical constraints are now possible due to technical innovation. Infrastructure that was formerly private has become quasi-public via deregulation; conversely, through sale-leaseback transactions, what was formerly public is now becoming private.

Today, the US Postal Service outsources to FedEx. Verizon operates a de-regulated telecom network; ConEd operates a deregulated electrical grid. The FCC just finished selling segments of the public UHF spectrum to private telecommunication companies. The Internet is managed by thousands of private telecommunications companies, worldwide.

Open standards and technologies make this model of layered ownership and operation possible because they coordinate and standardize; as the ISO makes industrial exchange fluid, the IEEE and ITU enable fluid, Internet-mediated communication.

The history of the Internet provides clues to the future evolution of infrastructure such as the subway: transitioning from government-run public service to a privately-managed, publicly-accessible commodity, the subway will become a market-driven, private/public logistical platform:

The MTA will continue to operate the tracks and signals, but railcars and platforms will become privately owned. The MTA will auction off existing railcars and station assets, using the money raised to pay off existing debt and invest in new rail lines. A limited number of railcars will be transferred to a non-profit charged with operating them on behalf of the public; the so called “public option.”

While all trains now consist of multiple railcars, trains in the new system will be “packetized”—broken up to be exactly one railcar long. This lowers the barrier of entry to train purchase, and also makes transport in the system more consistent and resilient to failure or terrorist attack. Even better, new stations can be built cheaply, as the required size of a station will be much smaller.

Because so many different players (new to the industry) will be involved in the system, safety and consistency must be enforced among all operators. An open, standards-based signaling system will dispatch and control all trains in the system to prevent collisions and ensure proper behavior. Any railcar, regardless of manufacturer or owner will be allowed to access the system, as long as it can demonstrate its railcar meets these open standards.

The new signaling system will run in an out-of-band channel on a larger, system-wide fiber optic data-communications network. This data network will provide cheap, ubiquitous Internet connectivity to each railcar via wireless networking technologies, enabling innovation and free data exchange among railcar operators and the world.

Architects and designers will be called upon to participate in the design of this system in a way they couldn’t on the Internet. Just as interactive ads became a new business on the Internet, interactive architecture will continue to expand to serve the needs of commercial interests in physical spaces like stations and railcars. Branded railcars and platforms will become commonplace; private companies will rush to increase their “share of voice” in this new advertising market, just as they first did on the Internet.

Publicly-run railcars will continue to exist, but will be subsidized by advertising and the sale of demographic data to large market research firms. Since public railcars will be a limited, high-demand resource, riders will bid to ride on the few public railcars. Riders can submit their bids via their mobile devices; railcars will adjust bidding according to adherence to time tables, or demand (i.e. the amount of people currently in the railcar). This market mechanism will work to artificially inflate the price private railcar operators can charge.

[photo: Andy + Jagdish Yadav]

All railcars and platforms must provide service to all riders, but private operators are free to set the price of a ride on their railcar as they please. Private operators may choose to allow riders to claim a subsidy by sharing demographic data about themselves, or by watching advertisements. Privacy and the avoidance of advertising will become a “premium” service one pays for by choosing to ride on “premium cars.”

Download poster PDF

This project was covered in the Infrastructurist article A Field Guide To NYC Standpipes (Including Bernie Madoff’s).

View the complete photo set on Flickr

Why is it so easy to get your deposit back from a bottle or can return, but you can’t get your own money off a Metrocard?

The MTA might have a $800 million deficit but we wanted to help riders close their own budget gap—five cents at a time.

We rode the 4 train from end to end (Woodlawn to Crown Heights) to offer five cents cash for empty or almost-empty “returnable containers.” We collected Metrocards, cans and data, crunched some numbers and shared our findings in an installation at a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space project curated by Katarina Jerinic and Naomi Miller.

Download PDF of gallery panels

To date, Publicworks Office has participated in the election of directors; approval of the accountant-of-record (PriceWaterhouseCoopers); and a stockholder proposal for additional compensation information to be published in the proxy statement.

We have heard Kevin Burke answer questions ranging from the impact of future energy regulation to the return of broken fluorescent light bulbs, and respond to concerns expressed by non-unionized contract employees.

In addition to the annual report, shareholders in attendance at the annual meeting have received energy-saving foam seals for leaky electrical sockets and ConEd-branded backpacks.

[photos: La Mariposa + xpressbus]

Yet leaking steam signals problems below street level (ConEd even provides a toll-free number for the public to report leaks: 1-800-75-CONED) and can even cause serious burns to pedestrians.

In response, Publicworks Office developed Steamr, a free iPhone application that allows users to take a snapshot of leaking steam and automatically sends it with a geolocated report to ConEd. While not all steam signals a threat (cold weather can also affect sewers, causing steam to pass through grates at street level), the image allows ConEd to gauge the credibility of the report.

Publicworks Office also created a supporting website to provide information about the issue and the reporting process.

Steamr was decomissioned in 2010. Many cities now operate similar mobile-enabled “311″ platforms, and private services providers such as See-Click-Fix have emerged to provide comprehensive digital reporting products.