Decode Congestion Hackathon

BusJoust – Team Andrew’s Fearless Team developed a tool that gamifies data collection on public transportation through an augmented reality game, encouraging users to collect data samples while using transit, and rewarding them with loot that can be used in inter-bus competitions.

This could help the City and TransLink collect more data and develop a further understanding of our transit usage, as well as encourage people to take transit and foster a positive relationship with the transit network.

TracSmart – Go Team Go developed a tool using machine learning to review existing traffic stills from City of Vancouver intersection cameras to quantify congestion and provide alerts for anomalous patterns or identify high congestion periods.

This could help the City monitor the performance of our network and collect further data.

Policy Based Traffic Signals – Politiki Tomi developed a tool that uses machine visions combined with edge computing technology to detect buses, pedestrians, and people on bikes to perform signal pre-emption.

This could help the City monitor travel performance, and improve people moving capacity.

Friday, November 8

Saturday, November 9

 The venue will be open overnight on Saturday for any participants who wish to work through the night.

Sunday, November 10

Improve monitoring of traffic conditions and trends

There is a need to measure baseline conditions of traffic volumes and trends to measure congestion and track progress on arterial streets. Once these baseline conditions are established, we can better understand where congestion is most problematic. 

How can we explore and implement new technologies to capture trends in travel time and reliability to help make informed decisions to address congestion?

Improve road safety

We set a goal of zero transportation related fatalities in its Transportation 2040 Plan. In 2016, it released the Moving Towards Zero Strategy, which outlines strategies to achieve zero traffic related fatalities and serious injuries on the road network by focusing on improvements to safety hotspots. 

How can we reduce the frequency and severity of collisions so that the street network can operate more safely and efficiently?

Ensure a smart and efficient transportation system

The application of technology will play a vital role optimizing our transportation system. Technology is particularly important for achieving efficiencies in Vancouver, as we have little space left to add in new roadways. 

How can we take advantage of emerging technologies in data collection, such as smart street lighting and infrastructure to support connected and automated vehicles?  

Coordinate street use

Streets are used for many activities other than driving, including large and small scale events, staging for development and construction, and other activities such as filming. The diverse use of streets is a sign of a healthy, vibrant city with a strong economy. 

Street use coordination is a key component of supporting the reliable operation of our street network for the purposes of travelling. How can we manage and coordinate impacts related to construction, development, and events?

Prioritize people and goods movement

We have a hierarchy of transportation modes, with walking as the top priority, followed by cycling, transit, shared vehicles, and finally the private car. By shifting the preferred modes, there is more space on the road for goods movement to support our local, provincial, and national economies, as well as providing road space for emergency services. 

How can we continue to be a leader in sustainable transportation?

Each team can submit only one solution. Judges will use the following criteria to evaluate the solution:

• Innovation: how unique is the solution?
• Feasibility: how easily can the solution be implemented?
• User experience: what is the overall experience of a person using the product?
• Strategic thinking: is the solution scalable? Will it continue to be relevant for the foreseeable future?
• Alignment with challenge: did the solution clearly identify the problem they are attempting to solve? Is the solution relevant to the identified challenge?

Hackathon participants can expect datasets in the following categories:

• Traffic count data
• City fleet telematics data
• Street infrastructure data
• Traffic safety data
• Community amenities
• Bike share data
• Demographics

Participants will receive more detailed information on the datasets that will be available to them during the event at a later date.

Hardware

We'll be providing a limited number of sensors and hardware (example: Raspberry Pi) to enable hackers to develop custom hardware solutions.

Related strategies and plans

Find more information on the hackathon challenge:

• Congestion Management Strategy PDF file (1 MB)
• Moving Towards Zero
• Transportation 2040 Plan PDF file (15 MB)
• Climate Emergency Action Plan​​​​​​​
• ​​​​​​​Road Ahead – The City’s street use coordination software

Vancouver is one of a few major cities in North America without a freeway system. The decision to not put a freeway through downtown set the stage for the green and livable lifestyle that Vancouver is known for today. Over the next 30 years, we’re expecting about 130,000 new residents and close to 90,000 new jobs, bringing more trips and more activity to Vancouver. The street network is largely built out, leaving few opportunities for building new roads. We need to make the most out of our existing network.

Vancouver has a history of prioritizing sustainable modes of transportation including walking, cycling, and transit. Since the 1997 Transportation Plan, policy prioritizing walking, cycling, and public transit has guided the direction of transportation and planning projects across the city.

In 2012, Vancouver City Council approved Transportation 2040, a plan that sets specific targets to increase the sustainable transportation mode share to 50% of all trips by 2020, and two-thirds of all trips by 2040. In 2016, the City achieved the 2020 target, four years ahead of schedule.

In 2017, the Congestion Management Strategy PDF file (1 MB) was adopted by council. The strategy provides direction on identifying and monitoring congestion, developing strategies to address impacted areas, and tracking progress and results.

In 2019, Vancouver City Council approved a Climate Emergency Motion to scale-up our climate action and limit warming to 1.5°C to avoid devastating climate breakdown, in line with recommendations made in the International Panel of Climate Change report and Paris agreement. This motion accelerates the Transportation 2040 goals to 2030.

A hackathon is a competition where participants spend a short period of time (24-48 hours) developing prototype solutions to address a specific problem. 

Clark Lim

Professor Adjunct and Principal, UBC and Acuere Consulting

Jamie Boan

Transportation Division Manger, City of Surrey 

Lon LaClaire

Transportation Director, City of Vancouver

Luke Closs

Chief Technology Officer, Recollect

Marlon Thompson

Program Director, Highline Beta

Mark Masongson

CEO and Co-Founder, Urban Logiq

Martin Brosnan

Senior Planner, TransLink

Meghan Winters

Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University 

Neil Ternowetsky

Chief Technology Officer and Product Manager, TRAINFO

René Cravioto

Program Manager, Enterprise Data and Analytics, City of Vancouver

Tanya Paz

Principal, Tanya Paz Consulting

Yulia Liem

Associate, Bunt Associates Engineering

Leanne Buhler

Manger of Strategic Ventures, BCAA

Lon LaClaire

Transportation Director, City of Vancouver

Winston Chou

Traffic and Data Management Branch Manager, City of Vancouver

Billy Dong

Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Vancouver

Erik Bonderud

Transportation Engineer in training, City of Vancouver

Lacey Hirtle

Senior Traffic Safety Engineer, City of Vancouver

Leah Hanvey

Business Development Manager, Urban Logiq

Liliana Quintero

Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Vancouver

Saimir Sulaj

Software Engineering Intern, Urban Logiq

Sherwood Plant

Senior Traffic Coordination Engineer, City of Vancouver 

Steve Vandervalk

Senior Software Engineer, Urban Logiq

Winston Chou

Traffic and Data Management Branch Manager, City of Vancouver

Zoe Athans

Traffic Coordination Engineer in training, City of Vancouver

Our gold sponsor was University of British Columbia External website, opens in new tab.

Our silver sponsors include UrbanLogiq External website, opens in new tab and PWC External website, opens in new tab.

Our bronze sponsor was Highline Beta External website, opens in new tab.

Our contributors include opendatasoft External website, opens in new tab, Transportation Associate of Canada External website, opens in new tab, BrainStation External website, opens in new tab, and Mobi by Shaw External website, opens in new tab.