Keeping the street fun, flowing and safe by implementing a faster, more accurate way to manage operations along 34th Street.

Streets are very busy places in downtown neighborhoods. Keeping track of the many different assets that enable streets to perform well is a challenge. It’s important for cities to have tools to inventory all streetscape assets, resolve issues as they come up, and ensure that streets are safe for all the people that rely on this vital urban infrastructure.

The 34th Street Partnership is one of the 76 Business Improvement Districts in New York City that uses Ginkgo to track streetscape assets. Using the QR codes that are automatically generated by Ginkgo for each asset and printing them on signs to track assets helps in several ways.

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Taking a Map-based approach

QR Codes aside, having a map-based system is essential for tracking assets in streets, plazas and other public spaces. Street addresses simply cannot be used to accurately locate these records. Ginkgo also enables users to set up custom areas on the map to measure different attributes and conditions of your assets area to area around your community's places. In addition to consolidating your asset inventory into a geospatial database, Ginkgo enables users to set up automations that trigger emails, texts and other alerts to send to place managers and their contractors and partners.

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Advantages of the signs

Major time savings

Adding uniquely identifiable QR codes to assets saved 34th street staff an estimated 15%-20% of the total time it would take to manage this process without the codes.

Public engagement

Ginkgo enables the public to participate by redirecting anyone not logged into the organization’s account to a public page where users can report issues or inquiries as they come up. It never hurts to get a little extra help.

Accuracy for reporting & maintenance

When there are hundreds of records on the same block, it can become difficult to maintain an accurate record of each asset. QR codes ensure pin-point accuracy because they are designed to connect to a unique URL for each asset when scanned, enabling the 34th Street operations and maintenance team to be sure they are interacting with the correct record.

The goal of the new system is to make sure issues are able to be identified and resolved efficiently, while simultaneously saving time and money for the community.

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