Artificial intelligence: Laval relies on technology to improve its services to citizens

Cameras on vehicles to detect potholes, automatic mower: The city of Laval is now using technology, especially artificial intelligence, to improve its services to citizens, the mayor said in an interview.

“Every issue that citizens call us from now on, we will be able to tell them what the deadline is,” Mayor Stephan Boer explained to TVA Novelles on Thursday evening, noting that citizens can also follow up online.

Whether it is a broken street lamp, a pothole, or an uprooted tree, the municipal councilor can assess when the municipal council will respond to the problem with a report on whether or not the set targets have been met.

“I think it creates a culture of performance that allows our teams to see if they're doing very well on some files and not very well on others,” Mr. Boyer suggests, noting that this transparency is accompanied by technical tools.

Against this backdrop, the municipal administration is testing cameras on city vehicles to automatically detect all potholes and quickly assign an employee to repair them.

As another example to justify the efficiency of this new transparency policy, Mayor Boyer cited the mowing of the lawn at Parc de la Nature using an automatic electric mower purchased for $10,000, which saves money from the second year on.

On another matter, in this case homelessness, Laval's mayor denounced the lack of a firm and collective strategy or the desire to face this problem head-on, which has grown to such a size since the pandemic that it affects all of Quebec.