ITS, Eh! Meet Canada's Flagship ITS Centre and Testbed

86 1094-7167/03/$17.00 © 2003 IEEE IEEE INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS The first large-scale application of computerized signal control systems, Torontonians brag, was in Metropolitan Toronto during the early 1960s. More recently, changeable-messagesign driver information systems (such as COMPASS, www. mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/compass) for freeway control have been introduced in the Greater Toronto area. Also, an imaginative public–private sector initiative has introduced North America’s first comprehensive electronic tolling system, the 407 Express Toll Route, on Highway 407. Although Toronto is a leader in ITS deployment, an equally large-scale research focus has been absent. The “intelligence” in ITS stems not only from high-tech gear but also from high-end intelligent systems—the computer programs that make the high-tech gear tick. To meet the need for such ITS research and development, the University of Toronto recently established the state-of-the-art Intelligent Transportation Systems Centre and Testbed (www.civ.utoronto.ca/its).