Traffic webcam data is now available to the public, entrepreneurs and software developers through B.C.’s open government license, data that can now be used to create new tools and services that could make driving in B.C. safer and more convenient.

“By sharing our valuable highway information, we hope to see the creation of new ideas and new tools that will prove invaluable to highway travellers in our province,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Todd Stone. “At the same time, we are supporting the innovation that is alive in our thriving B.C. tech economy and I look forward to seeing what the development community and others involved in transportation services can do with this data.”

The newly-released highway camera data includes links to the real time images that are publicly posted on DriveBC, along with the site name, view orientation and GPS location for each camera. Currently, there are more than 320 cameras providing images that are used for travel information by motorists, commercial drivers, tourists, and many organizations including emergency responders.

Government is seeking input from industry to explore the innovation opportunities that access to this data presents. As part of the #BCTECH Strategy, the BC Developers’ Exchange will be hosting events with software developers and entrepreneurs to understand the potential for B.C.’s tech workers and businesses.

The webcam data release builds on the traffic event data published by the ministry in September 2015 under Open511-DriveBC, which was the first Application Programming Interface (API) released by the ministry with data licensed under the Open Government License.

Learn More:

Highway cam data link: https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/bc-highway-cams

Current traffic, road and weather conditions for provincial highways: www.DriveBC.ca

#BCTECH Strategy: www.bctechstrategy.ca

British Columbia Open Government License: http://www.data.gov.bc.ca/local/dbc/docs/license/OGL-vbc2.0.pdf

BCDevExchange: https://bcdevexchange.org/

Drive BC Open 511 guest blog: http://blog.data.gov.bc.ca/2015/10/the-road-to-innovation-is-drivebcs-open511/