Transportation officials in Toronto announced they’ll spend more than $7 million in 2015 to upgrade the city’s traffic management system. No timetables were given for purchase, installation or implementation of the new measures.
One of the more innovative pieces of the plan is a series of new smart traffic signals at 20 intersections. City officials said the signals can analyze traffic patterns in real-time and adjust signals accordingly while coordinating with other signals. The technology is already in place at 330 intersections around Toronto, but the system can only be controlled on an intersection-by-intersection basis; the updated signals will allow citywide communication and coordination. The new signal network will be supported by the installation of 80 new traffic cameras.
City officials also said they hope to make better use of big data in 2015. Rather than collect and aggregate the data themselves, they may obtain data from a third party such as Google, TomTom or other GPS provider.
