Real-time traffic-based routing, based on open data and open-source software

The emergence of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) have given rise to a wealth of new opportunities for integrating heterogeneous systems and collecting massive data sets, whose analysis may lead to new information, insight, and knowledge. Building a scalable architecture for urban IoT environments is a complex task, primarily because of the massive amounts of data generated by sensor devices, and the variety of data sources. And yet it is a compelling application area, given the number of potential municipal services that can be improved using these technologies. In this paper, we describe our study of how cloud-computing and big-data management technologies can assist decision making for transportation systems in smart cities. More specifically, this paper presents and discusses a proof-of-concept prototype, based on open-source technologies and publicly available data for the city of Edmonton.