The Automated Vehicles Tactical Plan was created to fill a gap: between emerging technical understandings of AVs and the City of Toronto’s existing long-term visions, strategies, and plans of a healthy, equitable, livable and sustainable City.
The AV Tactical Plan outlines how the City should prepare for AVs and how it can influence the direction of the technology in these early stages. The overall goal is to be proactive, ensuring that Toronto is well-placed to both maximize opportunities and mitigate impacts arising from the arrival of AVs in the City.
The Automated Vehicles (AV) Tactical Plan provides an actionable path forward to prepare the City of Toronto for the introduction of highly automated vehicles – or driverless cars – on city streets, in public transit, and in the delivery of municipal services.
The Tactical Plan will ensure that all divisions and agencies are following a consistent direction on this technology, and will allow for clear communication of the City’s priorities as they relate to AVs.
The City of Toronto’s Automated Vehicles Tactical Plan was approved by City Council on October 29, 2019.
More information on the Tactical Plan can be found on the News Releases & Media Advisories page.
This first phase of preparation in the Automated Vehicles Tactical Plan is intended to ensure that the City of Toronto is “AV Ready” in 2022. To achieve this, the City of Toronto is undertaking five major initiatives over three years to better understand and test this technology. Since October 2019, the City has significantly advanced three of the five major pillars of the AV Readiness 2022 Schedule. The five projects are as follows:
| AV Readiness 2022 Item | Status of Project |
|---|---|
| Testing Response & Incident Preparedness | Complete |
| Transportation Innovation Zones & Challenges | Underway |
| Research & Development Program | Underway |
| Automated Shuttle Trial | Underway |
| Human Learning | Not Started |
The report below covers the progress made from October 2019-December 2020. Read on for more details!
The City or Toronto, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), and Metrolinx are working towards launching an automated vehicle (AV) trial to connect local residents to transit options at Rouge Hill GO station. The temporary service will will have an on-board human attendant at all times. For more information on the project, visit toronto.ca/avshuttle.
In Fall 2019 and the year 2020, key milestones met include:
The City is developing a Transportation Innovation Zone (TIZ) and the Transportation Innovation Challenges to learn about emerging transportation technologies and approaches and how they could meet some of Toronto’s transportation needs. For more information on the project, visit toronto.ca/tiz.
In Fall 2019 and the year 2020, key milestones met include:
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 response to this provincial regulation, the City acted to ensure first responders and law enforcement are prepared for automated vehicle testing that occurs on Toronto streets. For more information, visit this page.
In Fall 2019 and the year 2020, key milestones met include:
The AV Tactical Plan sets out tactics under seven directions: Social Equity & Health, Environmental Sustainability, Economic Sustainability, Privacy, Road Safety & Security, Integrated Mobility, and Transportation System Efficiency. Through the Interdivisional Working Group on AVs, 30 City divisions collaborate on implementing this plan.
In fall 2019 and the year 2020, the City made progress as described in the table below.
| Tactic | Status of tactic | Description of progress to date |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Sustainability | ||
| 2.1.1 Low or Zero-Carbon Energy Sources: Develop and implement a policy to incentivize the adoption of low or zero-carbon energy sources, particularly electric-powered automated vehicles. | Underway | Electric Vehicle Strategy approved by Council in January 2020 |
| 2.1.2 Low or Zero-Carbon Energy Sources for Shared AV Fleets: Develop and implement a policy for shared automated vehicles to use low- or zero-carbon energy sources. | Underway | Research on vehicle standards, and/or an emissions reduction incentive program for existing vehicles-for-hire. |
| Economic Sustainability | ||
| 3.1.2 Testing ‘Sandbox’: Develop and implement a testing ‘sandbox’ to allow industry to play, cluster, and innovate quickly. | Complete | Established a Transportation Innovation Zone on Exhibition Place grounds |
| 3.1.1 Expand Investment and Employment: Develop and implement a policy and mechanism to expand investment and employment in local sectors related to automated vehicles.
3.2.1 Talent Development: Develop and implement a mechanism to increase the local talent base in sectors related to automated vehicles.
3.3.1 Global Competitiveness: Develop and implement a mechanism to increase Toronto’s recognition and competitiveness in sectors related to automated vehicles.
3.3.2 Cross-Sector Collaboration: Develop and implement a mechanism to facilitate cross-sector collaboration between sectors related to automated vehicles and Toronto’s other economic sectors. |
Underway | Commissioned an economic development strategy on the opportunities to support the automated transit industry in Toronto |
| Privacy | ||
| 4.1.1 Data Privacy Standards: Develop and implement a policy and mechanisms consistent with Privacy by Design principles, to address ownership, custody, usage, and safeguarding of data associated with a natural person, that is either managed by the City proper, or an authorized third party operating under agreement with the City.
4.1.4 Privacy Governance and Oversight: Develop and implement an enterprise automated vehicle assurance framework that reflects the City’s authority over, and oversight of, data privacy protection across multiple dimensions/domains. |
Underway | Adopted the Digital Infrastructure Plan Working Principles; advanced work on the Digital Infrastructure Plan |
| 4.1.2 Privacy Standards: Automated Transit Vehicles: Develop and implement policies to ensure automated transit vehicle riders understand what personal data is accessed and collected from them. | Underway | Conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment for the Automated Shuttle Trial |
| Road Safety & Security | ||
| 5.1.2 Transition to AVs – Transit: Manage the transition to automated vehicles by educating operators and riders on how to appropriately use and interact with these vehicles, and by updating vehicle specifications to include partial automation that is proven to increase safety.
5.1.3 Vehicle Collisions – Human Factors: Support the development and adoption of automated vehicle technology that is proven to positively contribute to realizing the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan.
5.1.4 Vehicle Collisions – Environmental Conditions: Support the development and adoption of automated vehicle technology that is proven to reduce injuries and deaths from vehicle collisions resulting from Toronto’s unique environmental conditions.
5.2.2 AV Integration – Transit: Manage the transition to automated vehicles by identifying and focusing investment on corridors or areas for early integration of automated transit vehicles.
5.2.4 New and Revised Standards: Develop and implement maintenance and design standards that integrate the use of automated vehicles while increasing the safety of the transportation system for all users. |
Underway | Early learning through the Automated Shuttle Trial |
| 5.2.1 AV Integration: Manage the transition to automated vehicles by identifying and focusing investment on corridors or areas for early integration of and potential exclusive use by automated vehicles. | Underway | Early learning through the Transportation Innovation Zone |
| 5.2.3 AV Integration – Connected Vehicles: Develop and implement a policy and mechanism to securely integrate connected vehicles into the transportation system, including options to finance or supply connected and automated vehicle infrastructure and coordination. | Underway | Advancement through the Congestion Management Interim Action Plan |
| 5.3.2 Emergency Response Policies: Integrate consideration for automated vehicles into existing policies for responding to emergencies.
5.3.3 Emergency Response Protocols & Training: Develop and implement protocols and training addressing emergency response in an automated vehicle environment.
5.3.4 Enforcement: Develop and implement operating procedures addressing automated vehicles when responding to infractions. |
Underway | Established administrative system and guidelines for emergency response plans for AV testing in Toronto
Conducted First Responder training related to the Automated Shuttle Trial |
| Integrated Mobility | ||
| 6.1.1 Transit Priority: Develop and implement a mechanism to increase the ability to provide transit priority with automated vehicles. | Underway | First stage of implementation of RapidTO bus corridors |
| 6.1.4 Urban Goods Movement: Develop and implement a policy and mechanism to manage urban goods movement in automated vehicles, including non-passenger automated vehicles. | Underway | Approval of Toronto’s first Freight and Goods Movement Strategy |
| 6.3.2 Microtransit: Develop and implement a policy regarding the integration of automated microtransit into the transit system. | Underway | Early learning through the Automated Shuttle Trial |
| Transportation System Efficiency | ||
| 7.1.3 Designated Loading Areas: Develop and implement a standard for designating automated vehicle loading and unloading areas in high-demand places. | Underway | Piloted designated loading area solutions via CurbTO |
| 7.2.5 Manage the Peak: Develop and implement a mechanism to improve travel time reliability and system efficiency by maintaining or reducing the number of automated vehicle trips during peak congestion periods. | Underway | Worked with the University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute to model system impacts of AVs |
| City Operations | ||
| PSV. 6 Non-Passenger AVs for City Services
Support the research and development of non-passenger automated vehicles that can provide municipal services. |
Underway | Issued a pilot T and commissioned a market study on the technology |
| Governance | ||
| GOV.3 Monitoring Indicators: Develop and implement robust indicators to monitor the transition from human-driven vehicles to automated vehicles as well as their associated impacts on the transportation system and delivery of City of Toronto services. | Complete | Worked with Ryerson University to develop monitoring indicators |
