海角社区官网

Because it falls under provincial regulations, city council did not have a say in how the pilot will roll out. The program is expected to run in all of听Davenport and parts of听Parkdale-High Park,听York South-Weston,听University-Rosedale and听Toronto-St. Paul鈥檚, and will start with one to two driverless vehicles in Roncesvalles and Parkdale. City staff are asking to report back to council by the end of 2026 on the pilot’s findings.

The Aurora-based car parts manufacturer听would not comment on the pilot ahead of reporting its earnings on Friday, but a听 next week听details the pilot program.听

According to the motion, which includes a report with information mostly from Magna, the company chose 海角社区官网because of the number of roads with a speed limit of 40 km/h or less 鈥� the only roads these vehicles will travel on 鈥� and many of which have commercial businesses where they can make their deliveries. The pilot vehicles, which will have Ontario licence plates, have an upper limit of 32 km/h.听

The three-wheeled vehicles 鈥�听about the size of a large cargo bike and the height of a typical sedan 鈥斕齛re designed to carry small packages, not people.听Each will have “constant human oversight” from a car with a driver and passenger tailing behind, as well as a “remote human operator” located in 海角社区官网who can take full control of the driverless vehicle “during complex scenarios,” according to the report.

The humans in what Magna is calling a “chase” car can put an emergency stop to the driverless vehicle or steer it out of the way of emergency vehicles.

But this “real world” test also comes with limitations for Toronto: the driverless vehicles won’t be deployed during heavy rain, heavy or medium snowfall or when roads get icy,听according to the report.

Automated vehicles for ride-sharing, taxi services, deliveries and long-haul trucking have increased in recent years, but mainly in U.S. states such as California, Arizona and Florida with dramatically different climate conditions than Ontario.

None of the councillors whose wards are part of the pilot were consulted about it 鈥� and most said they likely wouldn’t have approved it because of the pilot’s limitations.

Coun. Alejandra Bravo (Ward 9, Davenport)听and Coun. Dianne Saxe (Ward 11,听University-Rosedale) said the pilot鈥檚 potential benefits are debatable if the technology isn’t being used in rain and snow 鈥� and it鈥檚 unclear whether they will even run during peak traffic.

“Testing only in favourable weather risks providing a rosy, unrealistic picture, and won’t account for risks,” said Bravo. “We need testing of any new technology 鈥� to be grounded in reality.”

Saxe noted that Magna鈥檚 automated driving system has only been tested for cold weather in Birmingham, Michigan听鈥� a city of roughly 20,000 people: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the point of this pilot and for whom?鈥�

Gord Perks (Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park) said he was also concerned with the safety of the driverless vehicles on Toronto’s already crowded streets.

In the report, Magna says the vehicles will avoid left turns in the pilot, reducing the chances of collisions and traffic delays,听and the light weight of the vehicles also mitigates the “potential consequences of a collision.”

“I don’t think anyone who has spent any time on 海角社区官网streets thinks that’s sufficient,鈥� said Perks of the mitigation measures. “An even slightly marginal increase in risk is unacceptable.”听

Jennifer Niece, the city’s transportation services manager of strategic policy and initiatives, said the province asked municipal staff for their input before it approved the pilot.听

“The city’s comments focused on operational and safety measures including recommending Toronto-specific location and time of day restrictions to avoid particularly busy corridors, avoid delaying TTC shuttle buses in the event of planned or unplanned subway disruptions and enhance safety while crossing major arterial roads,” said Niece, adding the city is in the dark about whether its input was even incorporated.

鈥淚 have many concerns on the lack of transparency, the province鈥檚 process, safety, accountability,鈥� said Saxe. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what the licence conditions are. The application seems to be secret.鈥�

Perks said he would vote against the pilot if city council had a say.

鈥淚 think having human beings who can cope with the vagaries and surprises of very crowded urban streets is better than relying on fantasy future dreams,鈥� he said.