An unusual city vehicle turned a few heads in St. John’s yesterday, but its use is a lot more common than you would think.

A city owned smart car with a large round camera on top, similar to what the Google streetview vehicle uses, was on the move in the metro region yesterday.

Mayor Danny Breen Says that they have been using this technology for a few years now to capture data around the city, and that various city departments use the photo and video that is captured for a number of city projects such as to identify when signs are missing or obstructed, and also for city planning for future projects.