A report that suggests Calgary council members push the province to allow testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads will be presented at a council meeting on Monday.
The report, titled The Merits of Autonomous Vehicle Testing in Calgary, says that while testing of driverless vehicles is allowed on private property, legislation is not yet in place for testing on public roads.
The province is working on a regulatory framework for the testing of driverless vehicles and plans to have it in place no later than June 2018.
The eight-page report recommends that council members request the Government of Alberta pass legislation that would allow for testing of autonomous vehicles on roads in the Calgary region.
The report also suggests Calgary is well suited to support the testing of driverless vehicles, as the city has over 2,300 companies in the geomatic fields that specialize in mapping, surveying and geospatial systems – an important part of autonomous systems.
“Calgary is extremely well situated to do autonomous vehicle testing,” Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said. “We have a lot of expertise because of our oil and gas prowess in things that really translate very well into autonomous vehicles.”
A second recommendation in the report suggests administration should establish an “intake process,” led by Calgary Economic Development (CED), to provide a single point of contact that would allow applicants to submit testing requests.
The report suggests having a strategy in place as early as next year.
— With files from Doug Vaessen