New travel-time data helping with management of Toronto's traffic.

The City of Toronto has begun using both real-time and historical traffic data to support traffic management activities addressing congestion on Toronto's roads.The real-time data provides the City with "24/7" information on travel times and traffic conditions across all of Toronto's major roads seven days a week without requiring the deployment of extensive traffic sensors. This data supplements existing traffic data collected through a combination of in-road sensors and manual methods.The information collected will be used to support traffic management activities at the Traffic Operations Centre, providing key real-time information about all of Toronto's major streets. In addition, Transportation Services’ Big Data Innovation Team will use the data to measure and monitor changes in traffic congestion as well as to support more comprehensive planning and project evaluation.Other applications of the data include supporting the development of new traveller information systems that will enable the City to communicate up-to-the-minute travel times to the public and help in co-ordinating agencies' responses to major traffic incidents.A traffic-services company called Here, which works with mapping and big data analytics, has contracted to provide the data to the City.