Integrated Traffic System

The traffic congestion on our roads today is becoming a critical problem. There is increased fuel consumption as cars wait along poorly timed arterials. Safety is threatened as poor traffic flow leads to collisions. Transport Canada and the Ministry of Transportation Ontario has developed an integrated traffic system (ITS). The system is designed to enable the optimization of traffic flow on existing roadways. The ITS system contains a data‐base management sytem for traffic data (including accidents, roadway volumes, and signal timing details) and links this data base to the traffic analysis programs. This will ease the data management situation within the municipalities and standardize the traffic operations and reduce duplication of computerization development efforts. Development of ITS has just been completed and is being implemented in the demonstration sites for the formal evaluation. Significant demand for the system has resulted in the release of certain modules ahead of schedule. Further development efforts, systems support, and user groups are currently being organized.