June 27, 2019 — Chicago
A First in Canada, Transdev Deploys Autonomous Shuttles on Open Roads and in Dense Urban Environment, in Partnership with the City of Montreal
Leader in testing, developing and operating shared autonomous mobility services, Transdev is launching a public shuttle service on open roads, in the heart of Montreal, with two EasyMile autonomous shuttles, that will extend from June 21 to August 4, 2019.
Since May 2018, pilot projects for automated vehicles on public roads in Quebec have been permitted subject to the approval of the Ministry of Transport. Therefore, in partnership with the City of Montreal, Transdev has since developed several large-scale projects. In the Fall 2018, an autonomous mobility service was tested within Montreal’s Olympic Park and Stadium.
Since last June 21, a new milestone has been reached in Canada with the deployment of a pilot project featuring autonomous shuttle in a dense urban environment, in normal traffic, connecting the Olympic Park metro station and the highly frequented Maisonneuve Market.
In this project, Transdev operates two EasyMile autonomous shuttles that circulate in normal daily traffic conditions, crossing intersections equipped with intelligent traffic signals with which the shuttles communicate, thus providing a new transport service, useful to the inhabitants of Montreal, between the Olympic Park and the Maisonneuve Market.
The circuit covers a distance of 1.4 km, carried out in about 6 minutes with an average speed of 15 km/h. On board, Transdev operators welcome and inform passengers.
At the official launch on June 27, in the presence of Eric Alan Caldwell, mobility manager on the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal, Arthur Nicolet, Chief Executive Officer of Transdev Canada emphasized: “Each step of this deployment allows us to address technological challenges, as well as to test consumer acceptance of these new modes of transport. We are proud to contribute to the development of autonomous mobility in Canada, and especially here in Montreal, and are committed to safely evolve. People in Montreal are very open to discovering new mobility options that will shape the future and we are very pleased to offer this carefuly designed pilot option to them.”
The autonomous shuttle service is free and open to all public, from Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, from June 21 to August 4, 2019.
