Uber's self-driving cars hit Toronto streets

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The future is here! A pair of the autonomous vehicles will be driving near the University of Toronto campus starting Tuesday. They'll be in manual mode, with drivers behind the wheel.

The cars aren’t available for rides: they will be conducting mapping tasks. Uber says it hopes to test the cars in autonomous mode by the end of 2017.

Uber announced in May that it would open a research group devoted to driverless car technology in Toronto, creating a third hub and its first outside the U.S. for the company’s AV ambitions.

Ontario has said it wants to position itself at the forefront of the emerging autonomous vehicle market, which some — including Uber — believe will be worth billions of dollars. The province also cites the potential for more environmentally-friendly and safer roads, since automated drivers are not prone to distraction or drinking and driving, like humans are.

Click here to read the Toronto Star article.