The City of Toronto supports transportation innovation and the development of automated vehicles (AVs) within the region. Toronto’s Automated Vehicles Tactical Plan was created to bridge the gap between the emerging technological development of AVs and the City of Toronto’s existing long-term vision to become a more healthy, equitable, livable and sustainable City. The AV Tactical Plan outlines how the City should prepare for AVs and how it can influence the local introduction of the technology in these early stages.

Regulation:

The City of Toronto does not currently have any by-laws pertaining specifically to automated vehicles. The use of public roads to operate highly automated vehicles is regulated by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO). The Ministry has enabled automated vehicle testing on Ontario roads since 2016 with the Automated Vehicle Pilot Program and Ontario Regulation 306/15 under the Highway Traffic Act.

In 2019, some updates were made to the Ministry’s program. With these changes, “The testing of driverless AVs is permitted on Ontario roads, under strict conditions,” including the requirement that: “Pilot participants must also alert local authorities (e.g. municipalities) prior to testing, and indicate where and when testing will occur.”

MTO’s AV pilot application form also requires that: “In supplement to the application, the applicant will provide to MTO, municipalities (City Clerk) and relevant authorities such as law enforcement and first responders a work zone and law enforcement interaction plan, in writing and prior to testing, explaining how the vehicle will interact with police and emergency vehicles, how the vehicle will react to construction zones and how the vehicle will interact with police and construction personnel on public roads.”

Notifying the City of Toronto:

If you are a participant in the pilot project for automated vehicles under Ontario Regulation 306/15 and planning to test automated vehicles within the City of Toronto, please provide your contact information, the testing location, date, time, and work zone and law enforcement interaction plan as per MTO’s guidelines, to: automatedvehicles@toronto.ca.

The City of Toronto has developed Guidelines for Submitting a Work Zone and Law Enforcement Interaction Plan for participants in Ontario’s Automated Vehicle Pilot Program who are conducting driverless testing in Toronto. While these guidelines are not a requirement of the program, the City of Toronto would be interested in the information outlined in this document for the benefit of service and operational preparation. Please feel free to contact staff at the provided email should you have any questions on this document.

Supporting Innovation in the City of Toronto:

The City also offers and is developing other programs to support local innovation and testing:

The content of this webpage is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind.