Autonomous vehicles could hit Ottawa streets sooner than expected

Ottawa's mayor and a handful of city councillors are expected to take part in an autonomous vehicle summit being held in Kanata.

The Third Annual Ottawa Autonomous Vehicle Summit will showcase the advances in automated driving technology and the far reaching impacts this will have on society. 

Executive Director at the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence in Ottawa Barrie Kirk told The Rick Gibbons Show on 1310 NEWS, virtually all private and public sectors will eventually be impacted by autonomous vehicles, as most are linked to the transportation ecosystem in one way or another. Those sectors include finance, insurance, technology, oil and gas, parking, vehicle sales, healthcare, police and hydro to name a few.

“We're going to have speakers talk about the technology, the policy, smart transportation, and showcasing the Ottawa autonomous connected vehicle ecosystem,” he explained.

Kirk expects autonomous vehicles to be fact of life for residents in the capital region within the next five to 10 years, adding that the transition that will happen quicker than expected, changing the face of our transportation ecosystem forever.

General Motors has already announced that it will start manufacturing completely autonomous vehicles in 2019, to be used for transportation services around the world.

“We have, in the Ottawa area, over 70 different organizations involved in autonomous and connected vehicles,” said Kirk. “And within Ottawa, the real focal point for that, I'm hearing, is Kanata north, where we have Canada's largest technology park.”

Wednesday's summit at the Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata is being attended by business leaders in the AV industry, as well as government officials.

Kirk believes events like this reaffirm Ottawa's position as Canada's autonomous vehicle capital.

Listen to the full conversation with Executive Director at the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence in Ottawa Barrie Kirk: