The University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute (UTTRI) was proud to present, for the first time, at the Canadian International AutoShow on February 20, 2019.
Billed as “a seminar on urban transit in the future” the 90-minute session took place in the John Bassett Theatre and featured a series of speakers – academics, City of Toronto and industry – presenting short, punchy talks on everything from the “costs of congestion” to how to re-imagine parking in the age of autonomous vehicles.
Toronto Star Wheels columnist Norris McDonald welcomed the AutoShow audience to the seminar on the future of transportation by UTTRI, and talked about the AutoShow tradition of presenting discussions, roundtables and seminars “on where the industry is going.”
Dr. Judy Farvolden, UTTRI Executive Director, opened the event with an introductory presentation about UTTRI and its mission of making transportation research meaningful and useful. Video clip of Judy Farvolden’s opening presentation.
Seven panelists made presentations from the John Bassett Theatre stage:
- “Exciting Things are Happening in Transportation in the Toronto Region …” Professor Eric Miller, UTTRI Director, University of Toronto. Video clip of Eric Miller’s presentation.
- “The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector in the Age of Digital Disruption” Professor David Wolfe, Co-Director, Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. Video clip of David Wolfe’s presentation.
- “aUToronto” Keenan Burnett, Team Lead of aUToronto, MASc Candidate, UTIAS. Video clip of Keenan Burnett’s presentation.
- “From Car Manufacturer to Mobility Disrupter: How General Motors is Transforming its Business Model” Ted Graham, Head of Open Innovation, GM Canada. Video clip of Ted Graham’s presentation.
- “Autonomous Vehicle Parking” Dr. Mehdi Nourinejad, Postdoctoral Fellow, Rotman School of Management. Video clip of Mehdi Nourinejad’s presentation.
- “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Road Tolls” Professor Jonathan Hall, Department of Economics, University of Toronto. Video clip of Jonathan Hall’s presentation.
- “Self-Driving to a Better Future: Harnessing Automated Vehicles for Public Good” Ryan Lanyon, Chair, Automated Vehicles Working Group, City of Toronto. Video clip of Ryan Lanyon’s presentation.
Dr. Farvolden closed with a summary of the far-reaching impact of transportation research:
Why is this work important to us? Because transportation is not just how we get from our homes to work, school, family, shopping, etc. Transportation has implications for almost every important issue we face in the region – economic development, employment opportunities, environmental sustainability, and our health – now and in the future.
View complete videorecording of the presentations. Video credit and thanks to the 2019 Canadian International AutoShow.
The Toronto Star generously agreed to posting of the article Panel generates ideas to break Toronto’s gridlock by Perry Lefko, published February 23, 2019.