Ottawa, Canada’s federal capitol, is preparing to open a 16-kilometre test track for cutting-edge autonomous vehicle technologies, the only such facility of its kind in North America. City officials are preparing the track, where driverless cars can be developed and tested without entering city streets or endangering the public.
The 755-hectare property, now being called Ottawa L5, has a closed network of streets, intersections and buildings. It offers car manufacturers an ideal location to test new wireless networking technologies, sensors, car-to-car communications and even emergency crash scenarios on real roads under real world conditions, including Ottawa’s harsh winters and hot summers. The news comes just days after Ontario’s Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek announced that the province would allow unoccupied autonomous vehicles on public roads.
According to Knoxdale-Merivale Ward Coun. Keith Egli, who was previously chair of the city’s transportation committee, city crews have been quietly working at the facility to add stop signs, street markings, street lights and other real-world traffic controls.
“I think it’s very important that we have a facility in Ottawa where we can test the vehicles and make sure that they are working properly and safely,” said Egli. “Our traffic services partners have been working to make it a real functioning site. They are working to make a standard road network with traffic control, signs, roadway markings. It in every way will mimic a general use road, which of course is what you want to have.” While the intersections and roadways are ready now, future development on the site includes a 5.2-km “high speed” test loop for the vehicles
The University of Ottawa, Algonquin College, Carleton University and La Cité collégiale will partner in the initiative. Corporate partners involved in the test track include BlackBerry QNX, Nokia, Juniper Networks, Ericsson, and IBM.
A formal grand opening and demonstrations of the facility and its cars are being planned for next month.
