Moving into the fast lane

Ontarians could be sharing the road with driverless cars in a matter of months as the province embarks on real-world testing of technology that is transforming the way we travel.

There’s no time to waste. Experimental self-driving cars, or “autonomous vehicles,” are already allowed on public roads in several U.S. jurisdictions. They have travelled well over 2.7 million kilometres in California alone, as driverless prototypes developed by Google are tested in the state. Other countries are in the game, too, with Germany and Britain, in particular, working on cars that drive themselves.

There’s every indication that such technology represents the way of the future. As the centre of Canada’s automotive industry, and also of its high-tech sector, Ontario is ideally placed to seize a leading role in this race. And Queen’s Park, to its credit, is taking action.

“Ontario is making its claim in the global marketplace,” Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said last week.

The province will be the first Canadian jurisdiction to allow testing of computer-driven cars on public roads starting on Jan. 1. As reported by the Star’s Dana Flavelle, industry experts say the first autonomous vehicle could roll onto the streets as early as March.

Motorists and pedestrians shouldn’t be concerned. Driverless test cars will be required to have an actual human on board, able and qualified to assume control of the vehicle should anything go wrong. Beyond that, the evidence indicates that autonomous vehicles are safer than those driven by all-too-fallible people.

In general, these systems watch road conditions and sense hazards using compact radar and sophisticated lasers. That information is fed to a powerful on-board computer, along with a wealth of other data including digital maps and satellite information. It’s all processed near-instantly, enabling the computer to make constant and seamless driving decisions and wheel adjustments.

The result is a vehicle more aware of its surroundings than any human could be — and it never gets sleepy, drunk or distracted. It never looks back to yell at the kids; doesn’t talk on the phone; and isn’t in the habit of driving while clutching a cup of hot coffee in one hand. In short, it might well be an ideal chauffeur.

Almost 100 Ontario companies and institutions are involved in technologies important to the operation of autonomous vehicles — areas such as artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning systems. The pilot program hitting the road at the beginning of next year should enable them to conduct research and development here at home and steer the way to bringing self-driving cars to market.

It will also be useful to test autonomous vehicles under Canadian road conditions, with snow-covered streets posing a particular challenge to the technology.

Efforts are underway to address this, with Google estimating that its self-driving car will be ready for customers as soon as 2020. Others pioneering these systems say it will likely take a few years longer but are confident of success.

Once available, the driverless car is expected to register brisk sales. And no wonder. It would produce a dramatic reduction in death and injury caused by traffic accidents, grant the elderly and disabled new independence, and result in a less stressful ride for everyone.

According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, three-quarters of all cars on the road will be autonomous vehicles by 2040.

In short, the driverless car is no longer the stuff of science fiction, and Ontario has done well in moving to the fast lane in pursuit of this technology.

Ontario is right to give the green light to testing robot cars