Driverless cars to be tested in 'petri dish' Canadian town
Thursday, January 7, 2016, 10:07 AM - Autonomous vehicles are taking over the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. While the technology continues to grow, this small city in southern Ontario aims to compete with Silicon Valley with hopes of testing the cars as early as April.
Stratford, located about 150 km southwest of Toronto, wants to join the self-driving race with the town already known for having a secure, private Wi-Fi network that covers the entire city.
Mayor Dan Mathieson says the city has had companies like Cisco and Toshiba test their products in the area.
"We're the Petri dish," Mathieson told CBC.
Stratford is home to auto parts suppliers for Toyota assembly plants in nearby Woodstock and Cambridge, as well as the digital media campus of the University of Waterloo.
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Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced in October 2015 that the province would allow testing of self-driving cars and any related technology starting Jan. 1 of this year. In addition, the provincial government granted $500,000 to the Ontario Centres Excellence Connected Vehicle/Automated Vehicle Program. The program pairs academic institutions with industry to turn transportation ideas into reality.
According to Del Duca, Ontario needs to be consistent with testing rules of U.S. jurisdictions.
Rules in the U.S. are different depending on the state. For example, manufacturers have to apply for a permit to test driverless cars, and those vehicles must have a human test driver.
Stratford is already collaborating with automakers and hopes to get cars cleared for testing as early as April, according to Mathieson.
Ford, GM and Blackberry announced at this week's CES that they are developing driverless car technology.
GM has plans to team up with ride-sharing giant Lyft to build cars and Ford announced the company will be tripling its fleet of autonomous vehicles. Meanwhile, Blackberry's QNX operations showcased new software that allows vehicles to interact with each other on the road in order to prevent collisions and smooth traffic congestion.
Source: CBC | The Globe and Mail
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