Uber’s self-driving cars hit Toronto streets in manual mode

Two of Uber‘s self-driving vehicles have hit the road in Toronto — with drivers behind the wheel — as the ride-sharing company prepares for official testing later this year.

The company says the cars are conducting mapping operations in the University of Toronto area from Tuesday until the end of this week.

The vehicles are being driven by specially trained drivers from Pittsburgh, where Uber has previously conducted testing.

“We’re excited to advance the work of our Advanced Technologies Group’s Toronto lab,” Uber Canada spokesperson Susie Heath said in a statement. “These cars will be driven manually while conducting mapping. We have also obtained a permit from the province for future development testing.”

In May, Uber announced it was opening a self-driving technology research lab in Toronto, helmed by renowned artificial intelligence professor Raquel Urtasun.

“Raquel’s work focuses on developing the software that allows self-driving cars to ‘see’: recognizing objects so they can navigate the world smoothly and safely,”  Uber’s then-CEO Travis Kalanick said in a blog post at the time.

Ontario is running a 10-year pilot project allowing the testing of self-driving cars under strict guidelines.

Steven Del Duca, the province’s transportation minister, announced in November that three research groups — the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Automotive Research, auto manufacturer Erwin Hymer Group and a Blackberry subsidiary QNX — had received the first permits to conduct testing.

Under the rules, a licenced driver must remain behind the wheel at all times to monitor the operation of the vehicle.

With files from the Canadian Press