Moving Forward with Intelligence - ITS in Ontario

Ontario has a long and successful history in the development and use of ITS - in fact there are far too many examples to include in this report. The following highlight Ontario's success - and demonstrate our role in developing this exciting field.

The ComboCard makes payment for transit use - especially cross- jurisdictional travel - easier and faster for both riders and local transit systems.

Improving public transit

Improved public transit is critical to quality of life and economic viability in Ontario's urban centres. The ministry has long recognized and supported this - and ITS offers substantial opportunities to improve cross-jurisdictional services. Working with transit properties, Ontario has piloted the use of smart-cards for transit payments with the successful "ComboCard" paymentsystem- which could be used for both transit fares and commuter parking in Burlington - and more recently with GO Transit's fare card in York Region.

These effective payment systems make travelling easier by eliminating the need to find exact change for fares and gives cardholders the best available rate.

Improving traffic flow

The first North American computer-controlled traffic signal system was installed in Toronto in 1963. This has grown to one of the largest centrally controlled traffic management systems in the world with more than 1,900 traffic signals in operation.

Electronic tolling system automatically bills users or charges their account without the need to slow down or handle change.

The Ministry of Transportation's COMPASS system, and the City of Toronto's RESCU system, monitor traffic conditions on Toronto area highways - some of which have in excess of 400,000 vehicles travelling on them daily. COMPASS continues to deliver leading edge solutions and industry firsts. By detecting and managing problems, and by providing real time traffic information, ITS helps keep people moving in Ontario's urban centres.

Highway 407, running across the north end of the Greater Toronto Area, received international recognition when it opened in 1997 as the first ever all electronic toll highway. It allows travellers to cross the region without stopping at toll plazas, expediting the flow of traffic.

The future of ITS brings not only expansion of existing applications, but also new possibilities for transportation solutions.

Improving road safety

Safety is one of the driving forces behind the development of ITS.

COMPASS continuously monitors traffic to detect and clear problems quickly. It automatically provides congestion and incident information to drivers and improves traffic flow. The Advanced Road Weather Information System (ARWIS) provides timely and accurate information about local pavement and weather conditions to alleviate the effects of inclement weather. These systems save lives while minimizing delays. At Ontario-U.S. border crossings, ITS helps reduce the potential hazard of unexpected line-ups. Queue-End Warning systems on roads leading to the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Peace Bridge, automatically detect the location of the queue-end and advise motorists of conditions ahead to help avoid collisions at the end of truck queues.

Enhancing road maintenance

Maintenance fleet management systems used by the Ministry of Transportation, help maximize the effectiveness of winter maintenance activities. When combined with road weather information these systems help minimize the environmental effects of winter maintenance by targeting salt usage in the most critical areas and allowing deployment at optimum times.

Another example of innovative methods to use road weather information to maximize safety is Fixed Automated Spray Technology (FAST), a bridge anti-icing spray that applies liquid de-icing chemicals to bridge decks before ice forms.

Growing ITS industry

University of Toronto's ITS Centre and Testbed facilitates computer simulation and analysis of real-time and archived traffic scenarios.

Ontario has more than just exciting systems - we also have a vibrant ITS industry made up of many professionals and service providers. Our industry - including engineering consultants, systems integrators, and manufacturers - exports significant amounts of ITS-related goods and services, such as Public Transport Services, to the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Ontario universities, with the Government of Ontario's support, are also developing expertise in the expanding field of ITS. One of the highlights is the University of Toronto's ITS Centre and Testbed - a world class facility combining real-time data streams from the province and city, with micro-simulation models of traffic conditions in Toronto. It can study a variety of traffic and incident management scenarios.

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