TORONTO, November 9, 2017 – Fortran Traffic Systems has been awarded funding  from the Small Business Innovation Challenge (SBIC) for the Vehicle Occupancy Detection program delivered by Ontario Centres of Excellence on behalf of the Government of Ontario.

Launched in March, SBIC is an integral part of Ontario’s Business Growth Initiative and Ontario’s new economic strategy. Under this exciting new partnership, OCE and the Government of Ontario are helping SMEs launch their innovations from the idea stage to become globally competitive products and services. The SBIC program uses public sector challenges as a platform for inspiring SMEs to develop and test innovative technology solutions.

“SBIC is part of the expanding field of innovation-based procurement, in which the public sector is a first customer of innovation,” says Dr. Tom Corr, President and CEO of OCE. “Innovation-based procurement drives better experiences and value-for-money for all of us as consumers of government services while also driving the creation of high-quality jobs and economic activity in Ontario.

The goal of this project is to develop an innovative technology to detect the occupancy of vehicles for High- Occupancy Toll (HOT) purposes. The developed technology will utilize data sources and methodologies that will be able to adapt to the emerging innovations in the automobile industry, including Connected and Autonomous vehicles (C/AV).

“Being selected through a competitive process that included end-user involvement is validation for Fortran to invest in and develop our proposed solution with more confidence,” says Peter Lengyel, President and CEO of Fortran Traffic Systems. “SBIC is a brilliant idea to foster innovations that address real-world problems and substantially increases the likelihood of the commercialization of the innovation. We expect that the SBIC project will put us in a better position to offer competitive solutions in the two fastest growing sectors of Intelligent Transportation Systems industry: electronic tolling and connected vehicles.”

As High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes are implemented in Ontario and abroad, there is a growing need for the development of an enforceable means to determine if a vehicle in a specific lane should be billed and/or fined based on the number of people in the vehicle. This technology could be implemented in the delivery of managed lanes in Ontario (e.g. High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and HOT lanes) or other jurisdictions.

With the arrival of transportation technologies such as Connected Vehicle/Autonomous Vehicles (C/AV) and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), Fortran, with its focus on research and development, is advancing its platforms to harness the multitude of benefits that these emerging technologies can provide to road operators and traffic management agencies.

More detailed information about SBIC can be found on the OCE website.

Fortan Media Contact: Sarah Lengyel Sarah.Lengyel@fortrantraffic.com

About Fortran Traffic Systems Limited:

Fortran Traffic Systems Limited is a Toronto, Canada, based company that has been a leader in the North American ITS industry for over 35 years. With both national and international experience, Fortran and its parent company, Guild Electric Limited, provides totally integrated turnkey transportation solutions. Since inception, Fortran has been known as an innovative and trusted manufacturer, integrator, and value added re-seller of quality products, which are designed to improve traffic flow, and most importantly, promote commuter and pedestrian safety. For more information, visit Fortran website.

About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc.

OCE drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario’s global competitiveness. In doing this, OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario’s industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments. A champion of leading-edge technologies, best practices and research, OCE invests in sectors such as advanced health, digital media and information communications, advanced manufacturing and materials, and cleantech including energy, environment and water. OCE is a key partner in delivering Ontario’s Innovation Agenda as a member of the province’s Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE). Funded by the Government of Ontario, the ONE is made up of regional and sector-focused organizations and helps Ontario-based entrepreneurs rapidly grow their company and create jobs.