He also led the Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Urban Mobility<\/a> (ISSUM) project from 2017 to 2023, working with colleagues at York, the University of Waterloo and partners, including the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO), Esri Canada, Trans-Plan, Peel Region, and York Region, with close to $4 million in funding through an Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence award. This project has led to several new initiatives to translate foundational research into prototypes and commercial products that have real-world impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are researching and developing AI [artificial intelligence] technologies for better, real-time understanding of mobility in urban environments and metropolitan areas, for sensing, analysis, simulation and 3D visualization primarily using computer vision to understand traffic flow,\u201d says Elder of York\u2019s Lassonde School of Engineering and the Faculty of Health, and York Research Chair in Human and Computer Vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Technologies developed in Elder\u2019s lab use video data to derive accurate 3D geopositioning and classification of road users, including cars, trucks, buses, pedestrians and cyclists. From the raw data, critical mobility intelligence is extracted in the moment, including traffic density, speed and volume, used to optimize traffic signaling and planning, and identify traffic incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally, traffic cameras are hardwired to the internet to transmit high-bandwidth raw video data to central traffic offices. In contrast, Elder\u2019s team has developed specialized computing technologies that process the video data \u201con the edge\u201d so only derived anonymized mobility intelligence is transmitted. He explains that this has the dual benefit of only requiring inexpensive and flexible low-bandwidth cellular transmission and preserving the privacy of road users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This edge-computing approach also allows flexible deployment of traffic analytics systems using temporary camera installations, and increasingly, drone platforms, which have a privileged bird\u2019s-eye view of complex traffic interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cProcessing the data in real time allows us to understand traffic flows and disruptions as they\u2019re happening,\u201d says Elder. These disruptions are often the result of major construction projects or sporting events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you're running a FIFA World Cup event, you need to know within seconds or minutes how traffic is changing, so you can adapt \u2013 divert this road, open that gate, and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His research aligns with CAIS\u2019s mission to collaborate with domain experts and public policy leaders in seeking equitable technological solutions to priority societal challenges while respecting privacy and data ownership concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat we're working on now is a universal mobility platform that can integrate all three of these different modalities \u2013 hardwired and temporary terrestrial cameras and drones \u2013 to give a more complete picture toward mitigating congestion and emissions. If we can make traffic more efficient through better traffic analytics, then we can contribute to the economy by making the transit times of people and goods shorter. The big wins for society are more efficient commuting, lower costs, lower emissions and hopefully better safety, especially for vulnerable road users,\u201d says Elder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWorking with public sector agencies like the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and innovative Canadian transportation engineering companies, such as Trans-Plan, our goal is to translate this research into real products that improve quality of life for Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making the built urban environment accessible for wheelchair users is something Assistant Professor Mahtot Gebresselassie of York\u2019s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change is working on. She received a Connected Minds seed grant for her AI and Disability Accessibility in Toronto project as well as a Connected Minds travel grant to work with researchers at Mekelle University in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She hopes to pilot the project in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto and at 快播视频\u2019s Keele Campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you're a wheelchair user or a person with other types of disability, the built environment is not made for you, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planners, urban designers and architects don't always think about the user, she adds, and when they do, it is not usually a person with a disability. She should know as an architect and urban planner herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause wheelchairs require space, it\u2019s really difficult for wheelchair users to maneuver the built environment if it is not made with their needs in mind,\u201d says Gebresselassie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s particularly true for pedestrian sidewalks and intersections where things like electric poles, potholes, or a slope that\u2019s too steep, can become barriers. \u201cWheelchair users should be able to use pedestrian infrastructure like everybody else, but such barriers make it challenging for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just how accessible sidewalks are for wheelchair users is one of the main questions of her research. \u201cThe ultimate goal is to be able to scale this out where it can be used for different neighbourhoods or entire cities.\u201d Using AI provides a quicker, more consistent and less expensive way to audit different areas of the city than potentially hundreds of human auditors doing it manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe used the City of Toronto\u2019s accessibility guidelines, extracting the information for wheelchair accessibility and any other pertinent data to develop an AI model combining it with an aerial map of the Jane and Finch area to see which sidewalks are compliant,\u201d says Gebresselassie, who received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant for some of her research. The model would also rank streets based on their accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause wheelchairs require space, it\u2019s really difficult for wheelchair users to maneuver the built environment if it is not made with their needs in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The next step is to develop a smartphone app for wheelchair users that suggests the best routes for a particular destination based on the model\u2019s ranking system. She is doing similar work in the city of Mekelle in Tigray, Ethiopia where she discovered most sidewalks are inaccessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solving mobility challenges and building transportation systems that are safe, inclusive and sustainable are at the core of Professor Gunho Sohn\u2019s research. He is Chair of the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering at 快播视频\u2019s Lassonde School of Engineering and the founding director of the Mobility Innovation Centre<\/a>, which brings together researchers, industry partners and public agencies to shape the future of smart mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/ascend\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/689\/2025\/12\/Moving-through-traffic-Mahtot-1024x589.jpg\")
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