Automotive News Canada - November 2017 - 11

11

* N O V E M B E R 2017

Autonomous cars: Failure is not an option
MONTREAL - THE ERA OF
connected, autonomous and
electric vehicles is no longer a
fantasy. It's reality.
That much was clear during
the 2017 ITS (Intelligent
Transport Systems) World
Congress in Montreal, where
hundreds of global leaders in
transportation services gathered
to discuss the future of mobility
and how cities are adapting.
Cities, and how people move
around in them, are in the early
stages of a transformation,
moving onto systems that use
more data and autonomous
systems to make transportation
safer and more effective.
Anyone in the automotive
sector who is not paying attention to these drastic changes or
who thinks they won't be occurring for a while longer is already
far behind.
Other lessons learned from
ITS World Congress:

cities are doing and by building
relationships with as many of
them as possible.

Industry cannot afford
to make major mistakes

General Motors Canada President Steve Carlisle, left, hit the
nail on the head with his comment that a "fail" with an autonomous car would set the industry and technology back "for
who knows how long." ( P H O T O : I T S )

Despite all the optimism
about what the future of transportation might bring, one comment made at ITS by General
Motors Canada President Steve
Carlisle stood out:
"We can't afford to have a
fail with an autonomous car
because that would set the
industry back and set the technology back for who knows how
long."

It's true. Surveys have
repeatedly shown that consumers are skeptical about fully
autonomous vehicles.
Automakers and suppliers are
confident that skepticism will
dissipate after the public gets a
chance to see more self-driving
vehicles on the road and after
they take advantage of some
autonomous technology themselves.
But cities and industry must
take concerns about cybersecurity and safety seriously. If they
don't, progress on smarter
transportation could stop dead
in its tracks. - ANC

Automakers and suppliers
must be aware of what local
governments are doing
Governments with booths at
ITS included the country of
Singapore, the provinces of
Quebec and Ontario, the state
of Michigan and the cities of
Columbus, Ohio, and Montreal.

FROM TORONTO

JOHN IRWIN

COMMENT
The steps those governments
are taking to better use data
through connected vehicles,
public transit and more are set
to revolutionize mass transportation. In the short term, this could
end up meaning fewer hours
spent in gridlock for commuters.
But in the long term, fleets of
autonomous vehicles could
make vehicle ownership unnecessary, at least for those living in
densely populated areas.
This obviously raises a host
of questions for traditional automotive companies about the
long-term viability of their business models. But they would be
doing themselves a favour by
paying close attention to what

We're listening.
And we're getting better.
Enabling end-to-end automotive commerce.

cdkglobal.ca
A major component of ITS is
the discussion surrounding
what "smart" cities will look
like and how people will get
around. Automakers should
pay close attention. (PHOTOS: ITS)

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http://www.cdkglobal.ca
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - November 2017
