In the 1980s, television viewers were treated to a show with a futuristic car: a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am called KITT.
The show? Knight Rider. The car? It could drive itself.
Today, this not-so-distant past is (somewhat) here, with a small range of vehicles on the market that offer some degree of self-driving capabilities. The caveat: as it is still a young technology, many questions remain from everyday drivers about how autonomous cars will work on our busy streets.
Some major automakers have self-driving cars on the market, including Tesla’s S and Y models, Cadillac Escalade, Ford’s F-150, BMW ix, among others. Even more, 160,000 kilometres of North American roads have been programmed for self-driving cars, noted Eric Novak of the automotive review channel The Novak Report. He has tested a version of the technology on Ontario’s 404 Highway, with a Mustang Mach-e with Blue Cruise technology. His hands were off the wheel, in what is known as “adaptive cruise control.”
“It will maintain a speed, and will turn as the highway turns. In some cases, if you need to change lanes, you indicate it, and it will do so safely,” he explained.
“It’s not really a country thing,” he added. “It’s an urban thing. It’s also a luxury thing for now.”
He continued: “We have to test autonomous vehicles in all sorts of situations, conditions, and climates. One of the conditions that’s needed is that the vehicle has to be able to see with its one electronic eye,” he explained, referring to LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology, a laser light shot on an object to calculate its distance from the car. If positioned lower to the vehicle, a problem arises if sight is impeded by slush and snow in Canadian winters.
There have already been reports of issues with Toronto streetcars causing some challenges to the navigation of Tesla’s autonomous cars, reports CBC.
Where is the technology now?
Suffice to say, the tech is barely out of the driveway, despite some regions clearing the way for its use on public streets.
Autonomous driving has a standardized scale, developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). It ranges from level zero (no automation) to five (full automation). Nearly all commercially-available cars are at level two, with features such as adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist.
John Gamal, former sales representative of Tesla in Toronto, drives a Tesla Y with full level two self-driving. The FSD Beta self-driving software add-on is $19,500 plus tax, he said, and that will lock in future technology as it rolls out.
“On the highway it can change lanes, navigate from one highway to another, all of the safety technology with braking, for any incident you might encounter. The Beta version in the city can make turns, and can get you from point A to point B, with some interventions. On the highway it’s fantastic.”
There’s a cabin camera that monitors the driver, to make sure they’re not nodding off. Otherwise a blue light with flash, and klaxon will bleep from the central screen, requiring driver engagement to show they are not distracted.
Tech journalist Hillel Fuld recently sat in the driver’s seat of an autonomous car that did all the work for him.
“There were no issues whatsoever. It was pretty incredible,” he said. “Really, right now, even as we speak, they are significantly safer than other cars because no human error. Even if they make a mistake once in a blue moon, it’s still safer than human errors. Obviously, it will be safer when all the cars on the road are autonomous, because they will work in harmony with each other. That’s the sore spot. It has to be full market penetration for it to be really fully safe and effective.”
The potential impact of autonomous vehicles
According to ThinkInsure estimates, there could be 40,000 fewer fatalities each year because 94% of accidents are due to driver error. However, a report from CBC suggests that those sitting behind the wheel of a semi-automatic vehicle could have a false sense of security, and be more distracted than other drivers.
Another advantage of these cars, according to the Toronto Star, is that so many more people will be able to be in the driver’s seat who, for any number of physical or cognitive reasons, would not be able to previously.
An ongoing concern, however, is data privacy — if the information about the car’s whereabouts is hacked. Even more so, is the possibility of the data being sold and (mis)used by third-parties that link into the driver’s parking habits. (Imagine pop-up ads from your dashboard selling you the latest supermarket specials?)
Current projects
Given that it’s a relatively new technology, there are pilot projects and unique applications happening right now. Ontario, having created the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) — an $85 million program to position the province as a North American leader in driving tech — is the only province allowing these cars on their roads, as of January 2019. Here are three examples of pilot/testing programs currently underway or forthcoming:
1. Loblaws has partnered with an autonomous vehicle company, in what is touted as a Canadian first — completely driverless grocery deliveries. Six trucks have already taken to Ontario roads (though a driver is present for safety reasons). The CBC report says that in excess of 150,000 trips were completed during the pandemic alone.
2. The University of Windsor has partnered with Telus to create a $5-million campus lab that will, among other things, research autonomous vehicles.
3. In Whitby, Ontario, a WAVE – Whitby Autonomous Vehicle Electric – shuttle has been implemented on a trial basis, passing along the city’s waterfront. The pilot project was created in partnership between SmartCone Technologies, AutoGuardian By SmartCone, the Town of Whitby, Region of Durham, Durham Region Transit (DRT), Metrolinx, Nokia Canada and other partners. Novak filmed a sneak preview for his YouTube channel, showing details of the shuttle and a test run.
Despite the time and investment from an array of corporations, however, even the experts say it’ll be a slow crawl to achieve mainstream autonomous vehicle adoption. That said, there is lots of research in the field. For example, Ottawa-based Sensor Cortek is hoping to solve the issue of snow, i.e. a significant roadblock to broad adoption, especially in a snowy country like Canada.
AI researcher Raquel Urtasun, who is chief executive of Toronto-based autonomous company Waabi Innovation Inc., told CityTv Halifax, “people think there will be a magic day where suddenly everything will be autonomous, but that’s not how this is going to work.”
“You will have certain areas where this technology is going to deploy, and then those areas will expand under more and more difficult situations.”
