A Winnipeg city councillor wants the city to be prepared for self-driving vehicles.
St. Boniface councillor Matt Allard asked city staff to study the new technology and offer recommendations on how to best deal with them. Allard said the vehicles have already been driven in Winnipeg, and he wants to know the impact on traffic, parking, emergency services, and transit and land development.
"Other cities are looking at how self-driving cars or automated vehicles are affecting their cities and that included Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver," said Allard.
"We are one of the bigger cities in Canada and we need to get behind the eight ball and get on the self-driving band wagon."
Allard wants to see how self-driving cars would work in Winnipeg.
For instance, these vehicles need lines on the road and charging stations.
Meanwhile, there are already close to 30 driver-assisted cars on Winnipeg streets according local car salesmen Chris Nott.
"It will change lanes, it will break, it will take curves, it drives itself," said Nott.
Except, Teslas are not fully automated vehicles, they still requires a driver behind the steering wheel to activate the auto pilot mode.
Fully automated cars are still in the testing process south of the border.
While seeing the road full of self-driving vehicles may seem a bit out of reach Chris Nott thinks it will happen sooner rather than later.
"This will be the future and it will be in our lifetime,” said Nott.
There has never been a fully automated vehicle on a Manitoba road according to MPI.
“Some vehicles within the Manitoba market do have driver-assisted options. Such vehicles are not considered fully autonomous. Drivers are expected to be behind the steering wheel and in control of the vehicle,” a spokesperson said in an email to CTV news.
