Is Taylor Swift the key to solving traffic in Toronto?

TELUS and Northeastern University host hackathon and identify potential solutions for street congestion when Swifties descend on the city for six sold out concerts

TORONTO, Nov. 13, 2024 /CNW/ - TELUS and Northeastern University hosted a two-day "Hackathon for Good" starting November 6, for more than 100 multidisciplinary graduate students at Northeastern'sToronto and Vancouver campuses, who volunteered to create innovative solutions for predicting street traffic patterns and potential road congestion during Taylor Swift'sToronto concerts from November 14-23, 2024. This hybrid event aimed to leverage technology and data to improve traffic management for the City of Toronto during the six upcoming concerts in Toronto and teams identified potential options for alleviating congestion during large scale events.

Participants were provided with supervised access to de-identified and aggregated network mobility data through TELUS' Data For Good program with support from industry experts. Judges from TELUS, Northeastern and the City of Toronto assessed the students' recommendations and named Vancouver's Team 13 as the winners - which just happens to be Taylor's favourite number!

Team 13's analysis of the data revealed that concert-goers tend to arrive in Toronto through a concentrated area but disperse widely across the Greater Toronto Area when departing, offering City of Toronto staff a clearer picture of travel patterns to help them improve traffic flow, transit planning and congestion management.

"This collaboration demonstrates our commitment to using technology for the betterment of our communities," said Yvonne Leung, Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern University in Toronto. "By harnessing the power of data and young minds, we aim to enhance the concert experience for attendees and improve city traffic management during large-scale events."

TELUS' Data for Good program is an award-winning, Privacy by Design-driven insights platform that gives leading public-good researchers access to high quality, de-identified data. Since 2017, the program has enabled safe, responsible innovation toward finding solutions for some of society's most pressing issues, without compromising privacy. The program's privacy safeguards have been a feature since its inception. In 2023, TELUS became the first company in the world to achieve ISO 31700-1 Privacy by Design certification for the Data for Good program, demonstrating TELUS' commitment to safeguarding privacy and advancing the principles of trustworthy data practices across Canada and beyond. Committed to leading by example in data trust, privacy and security, TELUS was the first telecom to sign a voluntary AI code of conduct introduced by the Canadian federal government and has won several international awards for its work, including the Responsible AI Institute's Outstanding Organization prize.

"Congratulations to all of the participants for their work conceptualizing real-world challenges and identifying solutions with data in an innovative and privacy-preserving way," said Pam Snively, Chief Data and Trust Officer, TELUS. "By challenging themselves and working together, these students demonstrated the kind of collaborative spirit that's so important in today's world."

Winners received prizes including Motorola headphones and TELUS swag, including tote bags featuring artwork by Indigenous artist Tracey Metallic.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a world-leading communications technology company, generating over $20 billion in annual revenue and connecting more than 19 million customers through our advanced suite of broadband services for consumers, businesses and the public sector. We are committed to leveraging our technology to enable remarkable human outcomes. TELUS is passionate about putting our customers and communities first, leading the way globally in client service excellence and social capitalism. Our TELUS Health business is enhancing the lives of 76 million people worldwide through innovative preventive medicine and wellbeing technologies. Our TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods business utilizes digital technologies and data insights to optimize the connection between producers and consumers. Guided by our enduring 'give where we live' philosophy, TELUS and our 140,000 team members have contributed $1.7 billion and volunteered 2.2 million days of service since 2000, earning us the distinction of the world's most giving company. For more information, visit telus.com or follow @TELUSNews on X and @Darren_Entwistle on Instagram.

About Northeastern University

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a global research university with an R1 Carnegie classification, and the recognized leader in experiential lifelong learning. Northeastern's global university system includes 13 campuses across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, and serves as a platform for scaling ideas, talent, and solutions. Students study, conduct research, and work on co-op in 149 countries and on all continents. The university has 300,000-plus alumni and more than 3,500 industry partners worldwide. 

For more information, please contact:
Emily Piccinin
TELUS Public Relations
emily.piccinin@telus.com

SOURCE TELUS Communications Inc.