Toronto/CMEDIA: In partnership reportedly with the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), the City of Toronto aims to support a Technology Pilot Zone Project to test innovative technology solutions to transportation challenges in the unique context of Toronto’s streets.
“As a vibrant, dynamic and growing city…We are proud to partner with OVIN to leverage the potential of innovative traffic technology…smoother, faster and safer journey on our streets,” said Olivia Chow.
Eligible small- and medium-sized enterprises with up to $100,000 in funding would be provided by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and OVIN and enabled by 5G wireless connectivity and leading-edge computing technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) would facilitate testing traffic management technologies in real-world environments
The partnership was announced today by Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Raed Kadri, Head of OVIN alongside the Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, Victor Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and Vijay Thanigasalam, Ontario Associate Minister of Transportation.
More information about the eligibility requirements and application intakes is available on the OVIN Technology Pilot Zones webpage .
Congratulating OVIN and the City of Toronto on the launch of their new Technology Pilot Zone, Victor Fedeli said that by securing over $43 billion in new electric vehicle and EV battery manufacturing investments over the last four years is a recognition by the government about the economic potential of advanced automotive technologies.
The City is also partnering with telecommunications companies and their traffic technology partners, as part of the Congestion Management Plan, including Bell Canada with Caliber Communications, Rogers Communications with NoTraffic and TELUS with Miovision to facilitate pilot projects aimed at improving road safety and enhancing transit priority and reducing travel times.
Supporting the City’s Congestion Management Plan 2023-2026 which Toronto City Council adopted in November 2023, the MOU aims to address traffic management that Toronto faces as a vibrant and growing city.
To improve and accelerate traffic management strategies, the companies will deploy, during these pilots, new traffic camera and sensor technologies that make use of AI and 5G wireless networks.
Following the pilots, technologies that successfully demonstrate the ability to alleviate congestion, and make transportation more efficient for Toronto residents, businesses and visitors may then be procured by the City to improve road safety and enhance transit priority.
The launch of the OVIN Technology Pilot Zone, said Vijay Thanigasalam is a major step forward in realizing our vision for the future of urban mobility.
Being Ontario’s and Canada’s economic and tech powerhouse and largest metropolitan area, the City of Toronto occupies a unique position, said Raed Kadri, to adopt the innovative OVIN Technology Pilot Zone to address mobility challenges, while accelerating their commercialization and growth.
