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If all goes according to plan, Canada's first autonomous shuttle will go into service at the end of this month in the Montreal suburb of Candiac, QC. Located along the southern bank of the St. Lawrence, across from Montreal proper, the small town of Candiac was selected over and above a handful of communities in Ontario and Alberta, the honour of Canada's first autonomous shuttle service to fall squarely on Quebec.
Built by NAYVA and operated by Keolis Canada, the electric shuttle bus will carry up to 15 people, at a leisurely speed of just 25 km/h, along a 2 km route through the town centre, with stops at City Hall and a seniors home.
The $750,000 pilot project will span 12 months, which will be sure to push the shuttle's engineering thresholds with the onset of Montreal's famously long, harsh winters.
If successful, the pilot could very well lead to the construction of entire fleets of autonomous shuttles, their compact size perfect for limited-duty runs such as that about to begin in Candiac. With automatic control already a well-established part of public transportation networks around the globe, it may not be long at all before this becomes the norm for all types of transit from subways, to LRT's, to buses, and more.
Willing to take a trip on the Candiac Express? Check it out and tell us all about it in the comments section below!
