Pan Am traffic coordination centre

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As Pan Am games officials prepare to get the show on the road, three weeks from now, drivers who will have to share the roads with athletes, officials, and dignitaries during the games, are dreading the thought of the daily commute. We all know that under normal circumstances, traffic delays and grid-lock are a problem in the GTHA, but with new lane restrictions taking affect, many drivers believe the games may bring the highways to a halt.

Inside a non-descript grey building in North York, is the unified transportation co-ordination centre . It’s a high-tech hub linking more than 20 different agencies, in a bid to keep traffic moving smoothly, during the 2015 Pan Am Games.
The centre will keep an eye on all traffic, heading to and from every games venue, 18 hours a day, seven days a week. As well as trying to keep normal, every day passenger traffic moving, as smoothly as possible in the GTHA.

It’s possibly the largest co-ordinated traffic management project, in the history of the province.

Some of the authorities will be in the hub, others will be using remote links, to keep the unified co-ordination centre up to date on specific conditions and incidents that may not be covered by the 440 cameras feeding into the system.

In all, it will cost roughly 900-thousand dollars to keep the co-ordination centre operational for seven weeks.

One more thing that may help you get around a little more easily, during the month of July. Toronto 2015 has developed an interactive traffic app, with a drive mode setting that will not only tell you the quickest way to get to any event or venue during the games, but will also help you to determine how to avoid the traffic, going to those events. The app is free. Just search for 2015 games trip planner.