Case Studies > City of Ottawa Traffic Operations

City of Ottawa Traffic Operations

Company Size
1,000+
Region
  • America
Country
  • Canada
Product
  • iNode™
Tech Stack
  • Crowdsourced Data
  • Data Analytics Platform
Implementation Scale
  • Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Digital Expertise
  • Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
  • Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Applicable Industries
  • Cities & Municipalities
Applicable Functions
  • Business Operation
  • Facility Management
Use Cases
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
  • Traffic Monitoring
Services
  • Data Science Services
  • System Integration
About The Customer
The City of Ottawa's Transportation Services Department is responsible for managing the city's traffic operations. Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, faces significant traffic congestion challenges, ranking 4th most congested in Canada and 14th in North America according to the 2018 TomTom Traffic Index. The department aims to maximize the safety, efficiency, capacity, and predictability of the existing road network for all users. With frequent construction projects and road closures, the department needs reliable and real-time traffic data to manage and mitigate congestion effectively. The department's responsibilities include monitoring live traffic conditions, collecting travel time data, and making data-driven decisions to improve traffic flow and safety.
The Challenge
According to the 2018 TomTom Traffic Index, Ottawa ranked 4th most congested city in Canada and 14th in North America. Congested roadways are a major road-bump for the economy and culture of urban areas. Knowing this, the City of Ottawa was looking for a way to actively monitor and manage the impact of local traffic events such as road closures and present their findings using factual data. Making improvements in collected traffic data’s reliability is crucial to effectively manage roadways and relay accurate information to travelers and traffic managers.
The Solution
SMATS Traffic Solutions’ data analytics platform, iNode™, has integrated crowdsourced traffic data. This allows the City of Ottawa to establish “virtual sensors” and monitor traffic conditions in real time, eliminating the need of dealing with hardware in terms of installing, relocating or retrieving. The use of iNode™ enables the City to monitor live travel time, compare alternative travel routes and perform before-and-after studies. Keeping in mind social impact, traffic data is sourced from “floating-cars”, made anonymous to respect public privacy. The iNode™ data analytics platform offers unlimited access for municipality staff to monitor and evaluate traffic conditions. This allows multiple sections within the City to utilize a common platform for transportation decisions. The data can be utilized for a variety of cases, such as incident monitoring, signal optimization, and data-backed travel times. The all-in-one, web-based transportation monitoring system allows the City to perform traffic studies of all durations on high-frequency city roads. The adaptability and accuracy of the system is a clear advantage of SMATS technology.
Operational Impact
  • The City of Ottawa, with the help of iNode™, is able to actively monitor traffic flow, pinpoint issues in congested areas, identify and measure the impacts of construction.
  • Using the platform, City officials have established over 20 links monitoring travel times on highways and roads within the City.
  • The exported charts and CSV files of the data are used to validate project findings, support City decisions, investigate traffic issues, measure impacts of traffic pattern changes, and back-up necessary proposals, using this factual traffic data in place of anecdotal.
  • Other units within the City, such as Traffic Engineering, have begun to implement facets of iNode™ to streamline their operations, such as utilizing before-and-after studies for traffic signal retiming.
  • The ability to actively monitor road traffic flow with access to live data ensures that alternative routes are as efficient and effective as possible during construction periods.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Ottawa ranked 4th most congested city in Canada and 14th in North America according to the 2018 TomTom Traffic Index.
  • City officials have established over 20 links monitoring travel times on highways and roads within the City.

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