TORONTO — The City of Toronto has given permission to Rogers Communications to install cameras and sensors that track the movement of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists at five downtown intersections in an effort to ease traffic congestion.
As part of the city’s congestion management plan approved by the City Council last fall, a 5G-powered artificial intelligence system will obtain real-time data on traffic volume, speed and congestion levels at intersections, Rogers said.
On Thursday, councilors gave the city permission to begin a “transportation innovation project” that uses “both pre-commercial and early-market technologies.”
This paved the way for the city to partner with Rogers to begin a pilot. The company plans to install cameras and sensors along University Avenue at Adelaide, King, Wellington and Front Streets, as well as York Street and Bremner Boulevard.
The pilot will begin with an initial multi-month phase focused on data collection, after which Rogers will use AI software to determine what improvements can be made to ease congestion at intersections. To do. The technology will eventually enable real-time analysis and management of traffic, including through AI-powered signal adjustments, the company said.
“I think everyone has had the experience of sitting at a traffic light and not seeing any oncoming traffic,” said Neil Dayal, head of innovation and partnerships at Rogers.
“The idea here is that situations like that shouldn’t really occur. By having a bird’s-eye view of what’s happening at the intersection, you can dynamically change the signals to stop and stop. We can make sure there are no cars parked or idling, no pedestrians or cyclists. ”
The city had previously hinted at pursuing such a pilot in its congestion management plan.
Transportation Services Director Barbara Gray said in a report to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee last month that the city is “working with local telecommunications companies to ensure that the technology is safe and secure while physically implementing it on-site.” “We will create a virtual testbed that can be tested in an environment.” cloud computing environment. ”
Dayal said the technology can detect and classify various “objects” such as pedestrians, cyclists, buses and cars, and optimize light changes for both safety and traffic flow. I did.
“It not only improves traffic, but also allows vulnerable road users to travel safely,” he said.
This is the first time Rogers is deploying this technology in a metropolitan environment.
In 2022, the company conducted a two-week test of the system as part of a research partnership at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus, which also installed traffic sensors and cameras at five intersections.
The company said UBC’s pilot reduced vehicle delays on campus by 182 hours and pedestrian delays by 93 hours, and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 2.8 tons over the trial period.
Dayal said the technology continues to be implemented on campus and would be interested to see if the results of future Toronto studies will be different, given the much higher number of road users in the city’s downtown core. Stated.
“What we learned (at UBC) is that by combining video and radar, we can now understand what’s actually happening at the intersection,” he said.
“We know the city is focused on expanding different modes of transportation, including walking and cycling, and we want to make sure our roads are safe for those types of users.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2024.
Companies featured in this article: (TSX:RCI.B)
Sammy Hughes, Canadian Press
