UTTRI Executive Director Dr. Judy Farvolden moderated and gave opening comments for the session “Integrating Smart Mobility: Planning to get from here to there” December 2nd at “Ahead of the Curve Conference.”
She reports that “the session was an excellent opportunity to learn where ‘there’ might be from a panel of thought leaders” and shared a brief summary of the discussion topics:
- Bern Grush, Chief Innovation Office, Harmonize Mobility, spoke of the need for a vision-led approach to prepare us for the impact of AV on urban form, congestion and infrastructure delivery.
- Sherin Abdelhamid, Technical Advisor, Automotive and Mobility, AVIN, described future technologies such as solar roads, charging roads and smart pavement.
- Colin Dhillon, Chief Technical Officer, APMAtech, elaborated on the future of the car-as-sensor, and made the case for the need for 5G infrastructure to support Vehicle-to-X connectivity.
- Finally, Benjamin Loucks, Emerging Technologies Lead, HDR, provided a summary of the Ministry of Transportation’s long-term plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, that indicates a need for investments in transit and CAV infrastructure, to support our mobility future.
According to Maureen Shuell of presenter Autonomous Transportation Canada, “This panel underscored the need to plan now for better mobility in the future given the realities of unprecedented population growth, emission reduction targets, aging infrastructure, and advanced technologies coming into play.”
“Ahead of the Curve” was the inaugural event of Autonomous Transportation Canada (ATC), a community of connected and autonomous vehicle stakeholders with a shared goal to advance the future of cities, transportation infrastructure, and interconnected mobility.