Driverless Cars Being Tested on Ontario Roads
Published August 1, 2017 at 12:48 am
The future is here, and you may soon see cars without drivers on Ontario’s roads!
Ontario and Michigan launched North America’s first national cross-border automated vehicle – or driverless car – test drive through Southern Ontario and Michigan on Monday, July 31, 2017.
There were two companies that test drove vehicles on the roads. Magna’s test drive vehicle was a 2015 Cadillac ATS and Continental’s test drive vehicle was a Chrysler 300.
According to the province, the test drive began in Detroit and continued from Windsor to Sarnia. Finally, it crossed back over the border, finishing in Traverse City, Michigan.
Ontario and Michigan will continue to collaborate to test, develop, and market automated and connected vehicle technology.
“With our strong clusters in automotive and information and communications technology, Ontario is the ideal place to develop, manufacture and adopt the disruptive technologies that are shaping the vehicles of tomorrow,” said Brad Duguid, minister of economic development and growth.
The demonstration vehicles had features like traffic jam assist, lane keeping, and technology that measures driver fatigue, attention, and engagement.
In total, the province is investing $80 million over the next five years for the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network to develop this technology.
The province said in a statement that currently, Ontario has six participants in its automated vehicle pilot program: The University of Waterloo, The Erwin Hymer Group, Blackberry QNX, Continental, X-Matik Inc. and Magna.
About 100 Ontario organizations are involved in the automated and connected vehicle industry.