MTO, Provincial Highways Management Division
Description
The Provincial Highways Management (PHM) Division is responsible for all aspects of the provincial highways, from planning/design to operation. Relevant departments include the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program Division and Region Offices (Central, Eastern, West, Northeast and Northwest).
The ITS Program Division is responsible for policy, planning, design, implementation and operation relating to ITS, including the Province's COMPASS transportation management software and traveller information services policy/implementation.
The five MTO Regions (Central, Eastern, West, Northeast and Northwest) are responsible for the planning, design, construction, maintenance, operations and management of the provincial highway network. The Regions also administer the Area Maintenance Contracts, under which private sector companies are responsible for planning, scheduling and performing summer and winter maintenance work on provincial highways.
Included In Groups
| MTO - Ministry of Transportation of Ontario |
Associated Inventory
Operational Concepts
| Area | Role and Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Archived Data Systems | Operators of traffic management centres provide data on traffic counts, speeds, volumes, accident reports, etc. to the Canadian provincial and regional transportation planning data archive systems. |
| Emergency Management | Coordinate closure requests with Provincial Emergency Preparedness Centre (PEPC) and with the Bridge or Tunnel Operating Agencies. |
| Coordinate traffic control and resource sharing with public safety agencies and municipal governments during disaster response, recovery and evacuation situations. | |
| During evacuation scenarios share information with regional transportation authorities and municipal traffic managers. | |
| Implement disaster response and emergency response plans. | |
| Work with public safety agencies, municipal governments, and the ministry of the environment to develop disaster response and emergency response plans for large scale emergencies. | |
| Incident Management | Responsible for collecting and processing traffic related data that provide indications that there may be disruptions in the traffic stream. |
| Disseminate advisories using dynamic message signs or other roadside equipment. | |
| Responsible for addressing incidents, disasters, security threats, or any event that will cause a disruption to traffic flow on provincial roadways. | |
| Responsible for assisting in restoring traffic back to its pre-incident condition by working with public safety to provide resources as needed. | |
| Coordinate the use of maintenance resources with the regional transportation authority to respond to incidents. | |
| Coordinate response to incidents with provincial or municipal public safety agencies. | |
| Traffic Management | Share information on traffic conditions with other centres so traffic operations can be coordinated. |
| Work with municipal governments and public safety agencies to develop diversion response plans for freeway and bridge closures. | |
| Coordinate with adjacent provincial/state and municipal traffic management centres. | |
| Monitor traffic flow over the province owned transportation network. | |
| Operate and maintain transportation infrastructure owned by the province - may include ramps and approaches, signs, ITS devices, and control centres. | |
| Respond to requests from public safety agencies (e.g. police) to close the roadway. | |
| Disseminate information on traffic and weather conditions using dynamic message signs or other roadside equipment. | |
| Traveller Information | Provide information concerning the conditions of the roadway including, traffic congestion, incidents, or weather conditions to area public safety agencies. |
| Coordinate traveller information with other information service providers including other transportation operations centres, etc. | |
| Collect and format data concerning road and travel conditions. | |
| Collect and format data concerning maintenance and construction activities including asset restrictions from the municipality's maintenance services. | |
| Collect and disseminate information on border crossing status and delays. | |
| Weather Data Collection and Processing | Collect data from the environmental sensors to access roadway conditions. |
| Exchange environmental conditions data collected from environmental sensor stations with the Meteorological Service of Canada. |