The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually all social and economic activities in our society, resulting in changing patterns of travel and traffic congestion in Canada.

This analysis first analyzes traffic congestion changes throughout the first and second waves of the pandemic on detected freeway bottlenecks within the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA), using HERE travel speed data from 2019, 2020, and 2021. Further, it investigates changes in the commercial vehicle (CV) travel patterns within the GTHA.

Even though many studies focused on the passengers’ travel behaviours, not many analyzed CVs travel patterns during the pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, consumers’ shopping behaviours have changed dramatically. Many people have shifted to online shops for their day-to-day shopping.

The impact of these changes is investigated by analyzing the origins and destinations of CVs based on GPS data collected by Geotab GO.

Mostafa (Yaser) Kouchakzadeh holds a BSc in civil engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran. After graduating from the University of Tehran, he joined Professor Matthew Roorda’s research group at the University of Toronto in 2019 as an MASc student.

His research interest is focused on analyzing changes in transportation networks using big data analytics.

Presented by University of Toronto ITE Student Chapter, UT-ITE.

Free. All are welcome.

If any specific accommodations are needed, please contact ite@utoronto.ca. Requests should be made as early as possible.

Join link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/87624482177.