VOA常速英语2016--西班牙智能城市项目为人们省时省钱

Spanish ‘Smart’ City Project Saves Time, Money 西班牙智能城市项目为人们省时省钱

WASHINGTON—

As life in cities worldwide becomes more hectic 1 and more expensive, urban designers are resorting to modern technology to help citizens avoid traffic snarls 2, and shorten the time needed for shopping and other errands. Technology also is used to cut costly 3 waste.

Santander is a port on the Northern Atlantic coast of Spain that spreads along a bay. Parking is easy to find. As one car drives away, an underground sensor 4 registers that a parking space is now free. Four hundred sensors 5 send messages to signs at street intersections 6, and GPS devices direct drivers to the nearest available parking spaces, reducing traffic congestion 7. A smartphone app makes the payment easy and eliminates the problem of finding coins to feed the meter.

桑坦德是北大西洋海岸沿海西班牙北部一处海湾旁的一座港口城市。在这里很容易就能找到停车位。每当一辆车离开，位于地下的传感器就会记录现在空出了车位。400个传感器发送街道十字路口的信号，而GPS装置能将司机直接引导至最近的空车位，从而减少交通拥堵。一款智能手机APP应用程序使得交停车费变得如此简单，而且从根本上解决了仪表器投币时找零钱的问题。

Most Santander businesses use scannable barcodes in their windows to save their customers time.

而桑坦德的大多数商家都将可扫描条形码贴在自家橱窗上节省顾客的时间。

"When we are closed, they can find out about our opening hours, our products and where our other shops are. They can also learn about any sales and special offers we have," said Angel Benito, owner of a shoe-store chain.

“我们关门后他们也能了解到我们的营业时间、产品及其他店铺位置。而且也能了解到折扣及其他特殊服务的信息。”

In Santander, trash is collected only when the bins 8 are full and bus stop signs show exactly when the next bus is coming. The public parks are watered only when the soil gets dry.

在桑坦德，只有垃圾箱装满后才会进行清理，而公共汽车站的电子指示屏则会显示下趟车抵达的时间。而城市公园中的土壤真正变干时才会浇水。

All this is made possible by 20,000 sensors installed on buildings, street posts and even buses. They are part of the "smart city" project, launched by the University of Cantabria seven years ago. University researchers like Luis Mu?oz regularly meet with locals to discuss how to make their city even smarter.

所有这些全是安装在建筑物、街道上的邮筒、甚至是公交车上的20000个传感器实现的。这是坎塔布里亚大学于7年前开始实施“智能城市”项目的一部分。大学里的研究人员会定期与当地人讨论如何才能使城市更加智能化。

"They have ideas they propose and sometimes even develop by themselves.  Here, we give them the opportunity to see these ideas happen in real life," said Mu?oz.

“他们有了想法后就会提出，甚至有时候将这些想法付诸实际。在这里，我们会提供机会，让这些理念在实际生活中真正实现。”

For example, the university helped a woman create an app that outlines the easiest route for walking with a baby stroller. Another provides information to residents about their water consumption and sends an alert to their phone if there is a leak.

比如这所大学帮助一位妇女设计了一款APP应用，为推婴儿车提供了最简单的路线。另一例则是为居民提供用水信息，并通过手机发送漏水警示信息。

The next innovation on Santander's streets will be ecofriendly streetlights that automatically turn down when no one is there.

而桑坦德街道上的下一项发明将是环保街灯，这种灯可以进行感知并在无人时自动熄灭。

One challenge to overcome is making all residents aware of the extent of the innovations available to them.

但需要解决的一项难题是要让所有居民意识到这些发明就在他们身边。

"They need to do more so everyone can know about it all.  Me, I wasn't up to speed at all. Older people don't even know about," said Marina Garcia, a student.

“他们需要做很多工作，这样所有人才能知道。我就跟不上这样的节奏。年纪大一点的人甚至都不了解。”

"My son, yes, he knows about it.  He is young and handles all those technologies much better than I," added Olga Alzata, a nurse’s aid.

“我儿子，他当然知道这些。对于这些新科技，年轻人的他比我强多了。”

The Santander pilot project is attracting the attention of larger cities in Europe and elsewhere that are looking for smart solutions to urban problems.

桑坦德的这个试验项目吸引了欧洲及其他地区大城市的眼球，而且他们正在努力寻找城市智能化的解决方案。