Ottawa awards intelligent transportation contracts

OTTAWA, (Jan. 14, 2004) — Canadian Transport Minister Tony Valeri has awarded several ITS technology firms with government contracts.

Funded under the Innovation Through Partnership plan for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Research and Development, a total of $100 million is designated to fund initiatives that better integrate the transportation system. One million dollars of this is allocated for research and development contracts, with a maximum of $100,000 awarded per ITS project.

ITS is a rapidly developing field that includes traffic management technology, telematics, traveller information and vehicle control, commercial vehicle and fleet management, and communication systems and sensing devices combined to make the transportation system work more effectively.

A few of the companies that were awarded funding include:

— MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. of Richmond, B.C. will receive $100,000 in funding to develop a commercial vehicle operations (CVO) data clearinghouse/brokerage facility with the University of British Columbia.

— International Road Dynamics of Saskatoon will receive $99,000 in funding to develop remote-controlled weigh stations.

— IBI Group of Toronto, Ontario will also receive $99,250 in funding to develop sensor systems to determine pavement load-bearing capability.

— Globis Data Inc. of Kanata, Ontario will receive $99,900 in funding to develop a system for using cell phones as traffic probes.