SmartTO Client Impact Stories highlight how Ontario-based innovators are advancing smart mobility and related sectors with support from SmartTO, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) ecosystem, as well as our valued partners at Centennial College and YSpace. Each story showcases the venture’s journey, key challenges, measurable progress, including Technology Readiness Level (TRL) growth and the role SmartTO and its partners played in accelerating their path to commercialization.
About Trans-Plan
Trans-Plan, founded by Shadi Hagag, is a Toronto-based mobility analytics and technology firm specializing in AI-powered computer vision for transportation. Its flagship platform, Views AI, processes video footage to measure how people and vehicles move through streets, intersections, and public spaces.
By turning raw video footage into clear analytics, Views AI helps governments, transit agencies, and organizations design safer, more efficient transportation systems. From monitoring pedestrian and cyclist flows to evaluating transit hubs and micro-mobility trends, the platform provides actionable insights that make urban planning more data-driven and human-centered.
For Shadi, the mission is deeply personal: he is driven by the need to help cities like Toronto overcome congestion and mobility challenges. By reimagining how movement is measured, not just at intersections, but across entire neighbourhoods, he is working to build safer, more connected communities for everyone.
SmartTO Programs Engaged
Applied Technical Project (ATP)
The Challenge
While Views AI showed strong potential, Shadi and his team faced a major barrier: validation in real-world conditions.Municipal partners needed proof that the platform could handle complex, dynamic urban environments, not just controlled settings. Without access to large-scale testing grounds and research partnerships, TransPlan risked stalling at a promising prototype rather than moving toward adoption.
At the same time, transportation data was often limited and static. Cities relied heavily on intersection cameras and single viewpoints, which could not capture the dynamic, real-time nature of traffic systems. To gain adoption, Trans-Plan needed to prove that Views AI could go beyond these limitations and provide scalable insights across entire corridors, campuses, and communities.
SmartTO Support
Through SmartTO's Applied Technical Project, Trans-Plan gained access to York University’s Living Lab, a real-world testing environment that simulates urban traffic conditions and provides diverse datasets for analysis. Dr. James Elder, York University professor and Founder and Co-Director of the Centre for AI & Society (CAIS), worked with his research team at the Lassonde School of Engineering to help Trans-Plan test Views AI in real-world traffic conditions on York’s Keele campus.
Their first mission surveyed the campus ring road, a 5 km stretch that mirrors the dynamics of a small town. Using drones, the team demonstrated highly accurate vehicle detection and trained new pilots, creating a launchpad for future municipal applications. While not part of the ATP project, Trans-Plan later deployed in Bolton, where the workflows were further optimized and efficiency dramatically improved, showcasing how quickly the company could scale real-world applications after SmartTO’s support.
The Living Lab at York University provided more than just testing grounds, it offered computing power, research expertise, and new methodologies that helped evolve Views AI from a proof-of-concept with a patent into a robust platform with broader applications, from parking to congestion and crowd flow analysis. This collaboration also accelerated cost reductions and efficiency gains that would have taken months to achieve alone.
Beyond the technology, SmartTO enabled connections: the Region of Peel became one of the first municipalities to explore the platform, with four additional regional projects underway. The partnership also sparked new business opportunities with Esri Canada, other municipalities, and international partners. Importantly, it created talent pathways through student internships, Mitacs placements, and ongoing collaborations that continue to strengthen TransPlan’s innovation capacity.
Before working with SmartTO, Trans-Plan’s technology was at TRL-7. With Living Lab validation, it advanced to TRL-9, proving its readiness for adoption by municipalities. For Shadi, York’s campus and SmartTO’s support were “an essential launchpad for Views AI,” accelerating its journey from pilot to market adoption.
“SmartTO opened the door for us to work with York University’s Living Lab, where we could test our AI technology in real-world conditions. Working with Dr. James Elder’s research team was like gaining an extension of our own, helping us accelerate development and discover new possibilities we hadn’t imagined.”
Shadi Hagag, Founder & CEO, Trans-Plan
Key Support Areas
Applied Research & Validation
SmartTO connected Trans-Plan with York U professor, Dr. James Elder, and his research team to strengthen the technical foundation of Views AI. This project combined academic expertise with industry insight, helping refine the platform’s capabilities and align it with real-world mobility challenges. The partnership also motivated York’s lab to adapt years of camera-based research into drone environments, giving students hands-on experience and inspiring new applications for their work.
Scaling Validation
Through SmartTO, Trans-Plan advanced from TRL 7 to TRL 9 by validating Views AI in York University’s Living Lab, a complex, real-world environment. This testing not only confirmed the platform’s technical reliability but also provided external credibility, positioning Trans-Plan to scale adoption with municipalities. The first drone survey on York’s Keele campus demonstrated accuracy and methodology that could be replicated in municipalities. Peel Region was among the first governments to test the technology, followed by additional regional projects.
Credibility & Market Readiness
Validation through SmartTO and York University gave Trans-Plan independent credibility that municipalities and industry partners could trust. This third-party proof was a turning point, moving Views AI from a promising prototype to a solution partners were confident to pilot and adopt. The project also supported new partnerships with organizations like Esri Canada, and further strengthened Trans-Plan’s ability to bring solutions such as congestion management, crowd flow monitoring, parking analytics, and other cost-saving applications to market.
Ecosystem Connections
SmartTO expanded Trans-Plan’s reach by building visibility with municipalities, associations, and industry partners. This included opportunities for municipal testing and validation of the Views AI platform, positioning the technology for future adoption and deployment. The collaboration also deepened ties with Ontario Centres of Innovation (OCI), which had previously supported Views AI’s development through OVIN. It also opened doors to international partnerships, internships (including a Mitacs collaboration), and pilot opportunities with municipal governments.
Looking Ahead
With SmartTO’s support, Views AI has advanced from a promising concept into a validated tool ready for municipal adoption. The next step for Trans-Plan is scaling its technology across more cities, giving urban planners and policymakers a unique platform that can monitor the full spectrum of mobility, from pedestrians and cyclists to transit and micro-mobility, in ways traditional traffic cameras cannot.
Already, Trans-Plan is working on multiple projects with municipalities across Ontario and beyond, including Peel Region and international collaborators. These projects are laying the foundation for safer, more sustainable streets and demonstrating how transportation monitoring can evolve to capture real-time, human-centered insights rather than static or siloed data.
Equally important, the SmartTO collaboration established the basis for a long-term industry–academia partnership. By accelerating R&D with York University’s Living Lab and creating pathways for ongoing talent engagement, it has set the groundwork for future innovation that will keep Views AI at the forefront of mobility analytics.
As Shadi emphasizes, government support remains essential to help Canadian companies like Trans-Plan overcome hurdles and secure pilots. The credibility gained through SmartTO now enables Trans-Plan to show that computer vision isn’t about surveillance, it’s about building transportation systems that work better for people.