A 25-mile (40 km) stretch of the Queen Elizabeth Way highway running between Burlington and Toronto in Canada is being transformed into a location for testing innovations in advanced vehicle technologies and mobility.
The Ontario government is investing C$4.5 million through the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) to launch the initiative. The OVIN programme will provide up to C$150,000 to Ontario-based small and medium enterprises to pilot transportation and advanced mobility solutions.
The stretch of highway, now named the QEW Innovation Corridor, has a focus on applications such as electrification, smart mobility, infrastructure and connected vehicles. Nine Ontario-based companies have been shortlisted to pilot technologies in areas including queue warning systems, work zone safety, predictive traffic management, and in-vehicle traveller information.
Raed Kadri, head of OVIN, said of the initiative, “The QEW Innovation Corridor is pivotal in the effort to bring together government and industry to showcase Ontario-made technologies and accelerate the next generation of solutions that will move people and goods.”
The programme is intended to facilitate collaborative piloting opportunities and strategic partnerships to support the evaluation of technologies that aim to improve mobility, strengthen sustainability, and drive economic development.
Technologies that can be piloted include smart work zones, congestion management systems, incident response management, road hazard warning, coordination and dissemination of real-time traveller information, data analytics, cyber security, and geofencing.
The corridor will also enable the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to identify and evaluate technologies that improve transportation safety, sustainability, efficiency and accessibility. The programme aims to challenge traditional methods of data collection and analysis to support user-centric and evidence-based decision making.
Dr Claudia Krywiak, president and CEO of the Ontario Centre of Innovation, said, “The QEW Innovation Corridor enables Ontario innovators to test and validate new mobility technologies in real-world conditions. By bringing together government, industry and innovators, we are reducing barriers to commercialisation and supporting the deployment of made-in-Ontario transportation solutions.”
The first nine Ontario-based companies shortlisted to pilot technologies at the QEW Innovation Corridor
AirMatrix (Mississauga)
Libra Traffic by AirMatrix is an AI-powered, hardware-agnostic Intelligent Transportation System that integrates with existing traffic infrastructure to detect incidents, predict congestion, and provide real-time, data-driven traffic insights via a user-friendly dashboard.
AUG Signals (Toronto)
Argus by AUG is a portable radar-based safety system that detects oncoming vehicles on highways, providing real-time warnings to enhance worker and driver safety on high-speed roads.
iNAGO Corporation (Toronto)
iNAGO’s Mutualism platform is an AI-powered assistant integrated into the vehicle, infrastructure, and sensor data to provide drivers with real-time guidance, safety alerts, and efficient highway navigation.
Masterly (Toronto)
The AI-Driven Queue Warning System uses machine learning and video analytics to detect and predict traffic conditions on the QEW, providing real-time queue warnings and actionable traffic insights.
MetaWorldX (Thornhill)
MetaWorldX provides a Cloud- and Edge-enabled digital twin of the QEW, delivering real-time traffic, construction, and infrastructure insights to optimize safety and corridor management.
Raven Connected (Ottawa)
Raven is an AI-powered IoT platform that leverages in-vehicle devices and sensor data to detect road work zones, lane closures, and construction activity, providing actionable insights to highway operators.
RideFlag Technologies (Mississauga)
RideFlag is a smartphone-based AI system that verifies real vehicle occupants for HOV compliance, while providing navigation, queue warnings, and construction alerts on the QEW.
Sky Canoe (Port Perry)
Sky Canoe’s RPAS (drone) systems, using Overwatch Rapid Data Disseminator (ORDD), detect and categorise traffic threats in real time, supporting safety and monitoring along highways like the QEW.
SMATS Traffic Solutions (Ottawa)
SMATS uses live Floating Car Data and AI-powered analytics to provide real-time queue-ahead warnings via VMS and dashboards, enhancing traffic safety and management on highways like the QEW.
For more information visit https://www.ovinhub.ca
