In 2016, Ontario launched a 10-year pilot project to allow for the testing of automated vehicles (AVs) on Ontario's roads by approved companies under certain conditions. To date, Ontario has approved fourteen entities to participate in the pilot and two have been approved for driverless testing. For more information on CNIB’s advocacy work on AVs, please visit our advocacy webpage.
The provincial government is now looking to expand the pilot in six different ways that will widen participation in the existing pilot in terms of who can participate and how.
As part of this expansion, we are particularly interested in the government’s proposal to develop a pilot framework for testing automated micro-utility devices (MUDs). This would cover devices that are not defined as a motor vehicle in Ontario, are not meant for the transport of passengers, operate primarily off-roads in places such as sidewalks, and are task oriented and operated to primarily provide services such as delivery of goods. One prominent example of MUDs are robot delivery services that operate in other countries.
As we have seen in other areas that allow MUDs, these can cause accessibility issues for people living with a range of disabilities, including people who are blind or partially sighted.
Have your say
The Ontario government is asking people to give their feedback by reviewing the proposal and clicking on the “Comment on this proposal via email” link at the bottom of the webpage.
CNIB will also be submitting our own response to the government. If you’d prefer, please send any feedback or comments to us at advocacy@cnib.ca and we will include them in our response.
The deadline for responses is November 13, 2021.