Smart-er Congestion Management in Ward 25

Ten intersections on Yonge Street between York Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue will be outfitted with new, "smart signal" technology in 2018. Transportation Services is aiming for the system to become fully operational in the Spring. As Chair of Transportation, I launched this initiative in November at the very first installation site at Yonge Street and Yonge Boulevard in Ward 25.
 
These new smart signals will replace the 25-year old signal technology used across the City of Toronto. Our current traffic light technology employs fixed signal timing plans to accommodate predicted volumes of traffic, while the new smart signals will automatically monitor traffic flow and adjust signal cycles without human intervention. Smart signals can automatically make large-scale adaptations in response to unusual traffic conditions caused by weather, events, or accidents. They can also synchronize automatically and will be able to re-assign "green-time" over large stretches of Yonge Street to accommodate a high volume of vehicles travelling in the same direction.
 
The success of this project will be assessed based on the reduction of overall delay for travellers across the connected network of signalized intersections on Yonge Street. Transportation staff hope that the signals will also limit driver frustration caused by waiting at a red signal when there are no vehicles travelling in the other direction. Staff have undertaken significant preparatory data collection and will be comparing vehicle delay, stops, and travel time before and after the network is installed.
 
I am hopeful that this technology will help to alleviate some of the pressures of irregular congestion on Ward 25's busiest roadways.

As Chair of Transportation, I was happy to launch Toronto's first smart traffic signals in Ward 25 on Yonge Street.