Item - 2016.EX16.47

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council request the Toronto Transit Commission to report to the Executive Committee by the fourth quarter of 2016 with respect to the Commission's strategic plan concerning the incorporation of automated vehicle technology within the City's transit system.

City Council on June 7, 8 and 9, 2016, referred Motion MM19.8 to the Executive Committee.

In January 2016 the "Wepod" was operated on a public street as part of a trial run in the Netherlands. During the trial it traveled along a public street and is planned for use between Wageningen and Ede in the province of Gelderland. The "Wepod" will operate using an app that will allow customers to enter a pick up point and a destination point on their smart device. It is expected to begin regular operations shortly. The City of Beverly Hills in California has not been particularly known for public transit in the past but it is looking to incorporate automated buses to pick up passengers which will then connect them to new rapid transit lines in the area. As with "Wepod," these will collect passengers at any pick up point and transport them to the transit lines, again using an app. Cities such as Lausanne, Switzerland, and Zhengzhou, China are exploring the use of automated buses and more jurisdictions are certain to follow. It is essential that with the current pace of technological change that the City of Toronto's public transit system properly prepare for the use of these new technologies.