Toronto explores intelligent traffic systems to improve jams and transit

City planners and experts suggest that AI-enhanced traffic signal systems could help reduce gridlock across Toronto streets and improve travel times for vehicles and the new Finch West LRT.

City planners and experts suggest that AI-enhanced traffic signal systems could help reduce gridlock across Toronto streets and improve travel times for vehicles and the new Finch West LRT

Toronto’s notoriously congested traffic, among the worst in North America, with drivers spending an average of about 100 hours in traffic annually, continues to frustrate commuters.

Experts and city officials are now considering artificial intelligence-driven traffic signal optimisation as a key tool to improve traffic flows by dynamically adjusting signal timing across the city’s roughly 2,500 intersections.

AI systems could analyse real-time traffic patterns faster and more efficiently than manual control, helping reduce idle time, clear bottlenecks and support transit modes like the Finch West LRT by prioritising movement where needed.

While details of Toronto’s broader congestion management plan are still being finalised, this high-tech approach is being positioned as one of the most promising ways to address chronic gridlock and improve overall mobility.

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