A recent tragic accident has inspired Calgarian Mayor Jyoti Gondek to advocate for using artificial intelligence to make local roads safer. In January, a 17-year-old was killed at a crosswalk in a local neighbourhood. The intersection where she lost her life has attracted criticism for years, with many arguing that it was only a matter of time before someone got seriously hurt before the incident occurred.
On Monday, Gondek said that Calgary needed to follow in the footsteps of Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba by utilizing AI to help establish a more impactful risk management system. She aims to improve safety protocols at this four-way stop in particular and throughout the city.
“We must modernize how we build safer pedestrian spaces,” she stated in a blog post from her office. “That means using artificial intelligence to identify near-miss data, process complex real-time information, and make better decisions, faster.”
Gondek believes that through examining collision patterns, average speeds, the way roads are designed and driving trends at different times of day the city can take steps to help prevent future fatalities, injuries and accidents.
At a city council meeting on Tuesday, Gondek will be proposing allocating C$1 million to amending Calgary’s current Safer Mobility Plan by integrating state-of-the-art AI technologies like other Canadian cities. Other councillors believe that even more money should be spent to improve the safety of local roadways.
Calgary had the highest number of traffic fatalities in over a decade last year with 29 people losing their lives. Icy roads and freezing temperatures during the long winter months make driving in the city particularly dangerous.
“By implementing new tools we will be able to stop reacting and start preventing,” she told reporters at the intersection where high school student Amy Tran lost her life. It resulted from a senior citizen, 75, failing to stop at a stop sign and not paying adequate attention to what they were doing.
Distracted driving is the leading cause of collisions in the Albertan city.
2024 marked Calgary’s deadliest year on roads in over a decade. Of the 29 people killed in traffic accidents, 13 were pedestrians.
Modern tools like AI, data, and community input — can all help prevent these tragedies. Read how Calgary can lead.👇https://t.co/XUR8MuUjrn
— Jyoti Gondek (@JyotiGondek) May 26, 2025
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