Organized by ITS Canada Tech Hub Leadership: Jonathan Parent, Transport Canada, Bernard Tung, City of Coquitlam and Nelson Melendez, City of Toronto
Panelists:
- Simon Foo, Ph.D., P.Eng. Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Transnomis Solutions Inc.
- Dave Greenfield — Chief Information Officer, Halifax Harbour Bridges
- Douglas Gettman Ph.D. , Global Director of Smart Mobility and AV/CV Consulting Services
- Sameer Patil, Leader of Traffic Management Centre, City of Calgary
- Amir Ashena, PhD, Transportation Engineering, University of Calgary
Transportation agencies and cities are facing mounting pressure to deliver reliable, field-proven, sustainable, and cost-effective mobility services – often while operating under significant resource constraints. At the same time, rapid technological advancement creates new opportunities to rethink how transportation systems are planned, operated, and optimized. This panel will explore how agencies, municipalities, and technology providers can collaboratively unlock smarter mobility solutions by leveraging existing ITS assets, embracing new partnerships, and using data in more strategic ways. Through a discussion grounded in practical experience and emerging innovation, panelists will examine three core themes:
- Leveraging existing infrastructure to extend asset life and functionality, enhance performance, and integrate intelligent technologies without requiring large capital investments or costly reoccurring costs.
- Collaboration and partnerships between public agencies, private-sector innovators, and research organizations to accelerate deployment, share risk, and scale new mobility solutions
- Data-driven optimization as a pathway to improve system efficiency, allow inter-regional collaboration, inform investment decisions, and support real-time operations and on-demand decision making.
Together, these perspectives will highlight actionable strategies for delivering smarter, field-proven, cost effective and more resilient mobility systems – even when budgets are tight. Attendees will gain insight into replicable approaches, emerging best practices, lessons learned and collaborative models that can help shape the next generation of transportation services.
