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The potential of automated vehicles

Autonomous vehicles hold the promise of being better, safer, more inclusive and more efficient personal transportation solutions. Here are some of the ways that AVs could improve our lives.

Safety

AVs could help prevent up to 90% of traffic collisions.

Driver behaviour is a leading contributing factor in vehicle collisions. While AVs won’t be perfect, experts agree they will be much better than humans at safely following all the rules of the road. However, until fully autonomous vehicles are on the road, humans still need to be fully responsible for driving their vehicle, and understand the limitations of any technology in their car.

Mobility

74% of Canadians believe AVs will improve accessibility

Self-driving cars could create a world of possibilities for people who are otherwise not able to take the wheel, including children, the elderly and those with a disability.

Convenience

51% of Canadians believe AVs will give people more time for productivity

Canadians spend over 11 million hours per year stuck in traffic. But with fully autonomous vehicles, people will be able to focus less on driving and more on productive tasks behind the wheel.

Economy

The economic benefit of AVs is estimated to be $65 billion

Transportation has a big impact on our lives and our world. AVs will use roads more efficiently than traditional cars. Each vehicle could be perfectly spaced on the road, which could reduce traffic jams.

Evolution of the car.

Automation is a scale, and there’s a difference between automated parking assistance and never touching the steering wheel.

Watch the evolution of the car

  • We continue to add more sensors [to vehicles], sensors that will today help us to relieve the burden of driving including adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring and pretty soon, full autonomy.

    - John Ellis, former Global Technologist and Head of the Ford Developer Programat Ford

  • To enjoy the benefits of highly automated vehicles, we will need to test them on our roadways, in our communities, and in our diverse Canadian climates.

    - The Honourable Marc Garneau, Canadian Minister of Transport

  • As ADAS technologies become more prevalent, it becomes increasingly important for consumers to be informed about the systems on their vehicle and their functionality. However, the wide variety of names marketed by manufacturers, and the lack of consensus by industry regulatory groups, make it difficult for consumers to discern what features a vehicle has and how they actually work.

    - AAA’s Advanced Driver Assistance Technology names

  • The potential here is enormous. Autonomous vehicles will be as important as the Internet.

    - Sebastian Thrun, founder of Google's self-driving car team

  • There’s a bigger problem with all this modern technology in new cars. Namely, the complex software that connects vehicles to the internet, allowing car companies to gather vital data bout drivers… There aren’t any rules on how and where [data] should be stored or used. But if big companies are going to gather and use that valuable data – shouldn’t they be paying for it? They’re profiting from our personal information. We should get a cut of it, too. It’s our data – we own it. We should know how it is being used. In the future, we should think of data as a product that can be monetized, so we can all share in the wealth.

    - 
Petrina Gentle, reporter at the Globe and Mail

The road may not be smooth.

For all its potential, there are also questions and concerns that need to be addressed before fully self-driving vehicles become a reality.

Myths and Questions

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