When Andrew Phillips, manager of automated and connected vehicle safety programs with Transport Canada, stepped up to the podium at the Canadian Transportation Equipment Association’s annual manufacturers’ technical conference in Toronto in October, it was clear attendees were in for a taste of the future.
“Whether or not these vehicles will able to provide services in the next couple of years in Canada in winter conditions, we’ll see, but they’re on their way,” Phillips said.
Don Moore (right), the Canadian Transportation Equipment Association’s director of government and industry relations, thanks Transport Canada’s Andrew Phillips after his presentation at the annual CTEA conference in Toronto. Photo: Saul Chernos
There’s been considerable testing in warm weather climates, including Arizona, where a pedestrian was struck and killed earlier this year. Transport Canada, Canada’s counterpart to the U.S. Department of Transportation, is also conducing research, with tests been done under relatively controlled conditions in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.
Driverless vehicles scaled
Defining automated vehicles as those equipped with sensors and other analytics to fulfill some driving tasks, and connected vehicles as using wireless systems to communicate information such as road conditions, Phillips said Transport Canada is looking at issues such as safety standards, cyber-security, and data privacy.
Phillips classified vehicles on a scale from zero to five in terms of the degree of autonomy provided. At the base level, humans are responsible for all driving tasks, while level 5 would be a truly autonomous, hands-off experience — regardless of driving conditions.
Mid-range autonomous features include automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance, and adaptive cruise control. Phillips cited improved traffic flow, reduced collision risk, and increased choices for individual mobility as among potential benefits.
“The sad reality is that about 1,900 people die annually in Canada in road collisions, and we know from U.S. research that up to 94 percent of those are caused primarily by human error, so hopefully in time automated vehicles can help to reduce that number considerably.”
Autonomous vehicles offer a particularly stark lens into the future of driving, but CTEA conference-goers also pondered changes already in progress.
Emissions update
Viliam Glazduri and Joséphine Davidson from Environment and Climate Change Canada addressed recently updated greenhouse gas emissions regulations for on-road heavy-duty vehicles, engines and trailers. These take effect starting with the 2021 model year and for trailers hauled by on-road transport tractors where manufacturing is completed starting in 2020.
Most of Canada’s Phase 2 regulations align with the U.S. Phase 2 standards introduced last year, with some accommodations for tractor-trailers in certain weight categories.
Roughly one quarter of Canada’s 2016 GHG emissions came from transportation, with nine percent of overall emissions from on-road heavy-duty vehicles, Glazduri and Davidson said, outlining a National Emissions Mark governing compliance.
Also on the agenda was the recently revised North American Free Trade Agreement. Former Conservative Party of Canada leader Rona Ambrose delivered a keynote address and an industry panel discussed prospects for final passage of the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a.k.a. USMCA, and ongoing questions about the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum by both the U.S. and Canada.
More innovations addressed
At an opening “town-hall” session, Joe Lynch of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation talked about Ontario Highway Traffic Act changes to rules governing axles and other trailer components under the province’s Safe, Productive and Infrastructure-Friendly (SPIF) vehicles program.
Eric Jessome, a transportation safety officer with Transport Canada, spoke about Bill S-2, enacted in March 2018 to amend the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and strengthen enforcement and compliance.
Other sessions addressed innovations in trailers, as well as electronic stability control technology designed to detect and reduce loss of traction and help prevent skidding. Isuzu, Western Star, Kenworth, Navistar, Hino and Peterbilt presented OEM chassis updates, and Cie-Tech, Fleetspec, Ancra Cargo, Genius Solutions, Wheel Monitor, Axalta Coating Systems, Truck-Lite, Ecco and Bridgestone outlined their latest products.
With the CTEA conference happening just as Service Truck Magazine was going to press, we’ll report on the highlights in greater depth in our next issue.
—Saul Chernos
Saul Chernos is a freelance writer based in Toronto.