Have your commutes been taking quite a bit longer than normal? There are a couple things that we can thank for that.

Ryan Patrick, supervisor at the Winnipeg Transportation Management Centre (TMC), says that we've been fortunate to have summer vacation. TMC is responsible for helping traffic in Winnipeg flow as smooth as possible. But that's hard to do when school comes back and the amount of vehicles on the road increase.

"We've had all schools back in session . . . combined with record construction this year," Patrick pointed out. "Those two things are causing the traffic."

This is a record construction year for Winnipeg, which includes permit work and emergency repairs. That construction has caused slow spots throughout the summer which are even worse now with the extra traffic.

One of the worst spots for traffic that the TMC has noticed is Pembina Highway underneath the Jubilee overpass, as the City works on the new Rapid Transit bridge. Recently, southbound Kenaston Boulevard between McGillivray Boulevard and Scurfield Boulevard has been backing traffic up as well.

"We've been trying to amend signals to assist there when we can," Patrick said. TMC is able to control all the signalized intersections in Winnipeg and Patrick says they watch throughout the rush hours to see if they can assist drivers during their commute, usually by extending certain lights.

They also add trouble spots to Waze, which you can download to your smart phone. Winnipeg has partnered with Waze, which will find the best route home for you depending on the current traffic.

TMC also works some weekends to keep your commute smooth. Patrick says they always have someone staffed on Winnipeg Blue Bombers game days to make adjustments when necessary. When adjustments won't help, like the moose incident last Saturday, they tweet using their brand new Twitter account to let people know where the slow spots in the city are.