Mapping Toronto Traffic

The Toronto Star has mapped the volume of vehicle and pedestrian traffic at intersections throughout Toronto. Using data from the City of Toronto Transportation Services the map shows pedestrian and vehicle traffic over 24 hours (the data for each intersection was captured between 1999 and 2012).

The Toronto Intersections map consists of three main layers. A minimalist street map layer shows only the city's roads using thin white lines. Omitting the road names from the map means that The Star is relying on users being able to recognize the city's roads purely from the street pattern. This is a reasonable assumption to make when the paper's readers are local citizens. You can also mouse-over the markers on the map to view the names of the intersecting roads.

The minimalist style of street map layer means that the vehicle and pedestrian traffic data layers clearly stand out on the map. The scale of the circular markers on the map represent the volume of traffic at the marked intersection. Click on a marker and you can view both the vehicle and pedestrian numbers recorded at the selected intersection.