This is one of several articles profiling the online Spring Technical Meetings of TAC’s six councils and their committees that took place in April and May 2024.
TAC’s Technology Council welcomed 40 attendees to its spring meeting on April 11.
Guest presentation
The Council heard a presentation from Sue Bai (Honda Motor Company) on using connected vehicle data to enhance road safety.
Pooled-fund project updates
The Council approved a new pooled-fund project in development of micro-utility devices (MUDs) in the public right-of-way. The project will help Canadian road authorities better understand the risks and benefits of MUDs, and to have the necessary information to encourage and facilitate their safe usage where desired.
Volunteer project updates
M. McGuire (Ramudden) updated the Council on progress toward an ITS committee primer on rural ITS, noting that the primer was nearing completion with a slightly reduced scope and a few new volunteers.
A. Rafiq (ESRI Canada) updated the Council regarding an ongoing volunteer project on the harmonization of road authority data. He said the group intends to produce a final white paper in 2024 based on the results of its 2023 survey.
Committee updates
The Technology Council received updates from its three committees.
The Connected & Automated Vehicles Integrated Committee meeting on April 8 attracted 37 participants. They heard a presentation from Bern Grush of the Urban Robotics Foundation on international work toward public-area mobile robots. They also established a working group to update the inventory of CAV initiatives in Canada and the CAV technical issue tracking matrix. The committee also reviewed its 2024 conference sessions and developed suggestions for lunch-and-learn sessions.
The Digital Applications Committee meeting on April 9 involved 39 participants. The committee heard guest presentations from Scott Budgell (Ontario Ministry of Transportation) on MTO’s data broker tool, and from Dr. Mehdi Nourinejad (York University) on advanced data visualization. Members advanced planning for upcoming fall conference sessions and reviewed other elements of their work plan.
The Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee meeting on April 10 attracted 38 attendees. They discussed the committee’s current and future focus and received a working group update on the development of a rural ITS primer. Participants also heard a presentation from Martin Hancock (Acusensus Canada) on ITS solutions to tackle the problem of distracted driving.
Technology Council Executive volunteers
- Chair – Ken Moshi (Transport Canada)
- Vice-Chair – Ed Stubbing (AECOM)
- Chair, Connected & Automated Vehicles Integrated Committee – Michael Collins (GHD)
- Chair, Digital Applications Committee – Doug Pateman (Ontario Ministry of Transportation)
- Chair, Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee – Richard Chylinksi (Parsons)
- Past Chair – Jeannette Montufar-MacKay (MORR Transportation Consulting)
- Board Liaison – Scott Stewart (Scott Stewart & Associates)
Contact Romaine Morrison ✉ for more information on the council and its committees.
