NJ town planning beach of the future

Nationwide, nearly 20 coastal municipalities have wireless Internet systems, mostly in California and Florida, according to the Web site MuniWireless.com. But few, if any, boast the kind of features Ocean City is planning.

The system Ocean City is envisioning should be relatively easy to build and operate, said Esme Vos, MuniWireless’ founder. The wide, unobstructed beach, combined with relatively few trees and almost no tall buildings to interfere with wireless signals, all work in Ocean City’s favor, Baltuch said.

Ocean City would use a combination of Wi-Fi to provide Internet access, and RFID, which is the type of tracking technology that libraries and department stores use to make sure no one sneaks books or merchandise out the door.

Big benefits
One feature of the planned technology should prove itself popular with parents — the ability to link one wristband to others. A mother going to the beach with three small children, for instance, could have her bracelet linked to those of her children.

If one of them passes an electronic sensor at the entrance or exit to the boardwalk without the right adult, a text message would instantly be sent to her cell phone.

“I’ve helped lost children try to find their parents on the beach, and that would be a great thing,” Kinloch said. “It’s easy for them to stray off. You only turn your head for a second, and they can be gone. It does happen.”

Even the trash cans on this beach would be high-tech. Special solar-powered units would have sensors that, when the container is three-quarters full, would automatically send an e-mail to the public works department asking a worker to come empty them.

And parking lots near the beach would have signs that would tell drivers how many open spots there are, and where they’re located.

The network would be owned by the city but paid for by a vendor. The city has requested proposals from interested companies, and hopes to award a contract by early September.

The network would enable city officials to know exactly how many people are on the beach at a particular time.

“They can see that at 1:30, there are 60,000 people on the beach, and say ‘Hey, we need to get some more police into that area,’” said Baltuch, the consultant.

He estimated the network could generate $14 million in revenue for the city over the first five years, and $12 million for the company that operates it, through user fees and advertisements to be sold on the network.

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