New data innovation team will be tasked with finding new ways to reduce gridlock

Toronto , Mayor John Tory says it is time to move on from “clickers and clipboards” as a way to measure traffic flow and to begin investing in “the power of big data” instead.
Tory made the comment at Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone on Tuesday morning as he announced the formation of a new big data innovation team to look at ways to collect and utilize information about traffic patterns.
“We can’t afford to have a city that is way behind on these sorts of things,” Tory said. “We are going to take the brain power that exists in the city and lead from the front. Unlocking this information and unlocking it through applications and the smart companies that exist in this city will make a big difference in fighting gridlock.”

Tory said the city has historically relied on workers manually counting vehicles at Toronto intersections as a means of monitoring traffic levels and has not done enough to collect more extensive data or make use of some of the data that is being collected by private industry.
In stressing the need for innovation, Tory singled out Amsterdam where a GPS-powered app has allowed drivers to provide their information to the city’s traffic division and help staff “optimize traffic flow” to the tune of a 10 per cent reduction in traffic-related delays. Tory also highlighted the success of a similar app created by the City of Barcelona.
“We have people with clickers, we have lots of clipboards and we have the odd sensor in the ground picking up information when they are actually working. Meanwhile, these other cities have actually moved into the 21st century. We are here today to say that it is time to move us into the 21st century and to do it as quickly as possible,” Tory said.
Tory said the cost of creating a data innovation team within the city’s transportation services division will not be significant as it will largely be put together using existing resources.
“Probably it will cost no more than having people stand on streets with clipboards and clickers and putting sensors in the ground that get worn out over time and are frankly utterly useless,” Tory said.