Item - 2021.IE21.8

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to work with the Chief Executive Officer, Exhibition Place as may be required to implement and operate Transportation Innovation Challenges at Exhibition Place, in accordance with the working principles of the Digital Infrastructure Plan.

2. City Council authorize the creation and implementation of a new fee in the amount of $412.00 for a Transportation Innovation Challenge application and amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, to include the new fee generally as set out in Attachment 1 to the report (April 14, 2021) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.

3. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bills to give effect to City Council's decision and City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make any necessary clarifications, refinements, minor modifications, technical amendments, or by-law amendments as may be identified by the City Solicitor or the General Manager, Transportation Services, in order to give effect to the reasonable operation of Parts 1 and 2 above in relation to Transportation Innovation Challenges.

Urban transportation is undergoing major transformations, driven in part by the emergence of new technologies—some of which are being developed in Toronto—and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These shifts are putting pressure on public streets to be used in new and unanticipated ways, while also presenting potential opportunities to improve the transportation system. Like the broader category of smart city technologies, many transportation innovations bring new challenges for cities in terms of safety, accessibility, cybersecurity, privacy, and decision-making. The City of Toronto needs new tools to proactively learn about emerging transportation innovations, in order to strategically regulate or incentivize them according to their potential risks and benefits. The City also has a role to play in supporting local economic development in Toronto's vibrant transportation and start-up sectors.

This work is already underway. In October 2019, the City adopted the Automated Vehicles Tactical Plan and Automated Vehicles Readiness 2022 as roadmaps to ensure that technology adoption in Toronto meets the goals articulated in Council-approved strategies and plans and to get ahead of the curve. In July 2020, City Council approved the use of Exhibition Place as a Transportation Innovation Zone, a location where firms, academic groups, and other organizations can test their solutions in a controlled, real-world environment. The October 2020 report from the Toronto Office of Recovery and Rebuild cited the Transportation Innovation Zone as an example of a strategic approach to partnerships that can be leveraged to help the City respond to the non-health impacts of COVID-19.

This report proposes a new Transportation Innovation Challenge program, and an associated new application fee, that builds on the Transportation Innovation Zone and fills a strategic gap in the City's existing innovation programs. Potential innovations that could be tested are devices that move on sidewalks or highways, sensors and monitoring devices, connectivity devices, smart lights and signals, signage, electric vehicle chargers, pavement materials, and paints. No commercial operations, where consumers pay for a service, will be allowed during trials.