GM urges Canada to build smart roads

General Motors Canada says government and industry need to work together to build smart roads for smart cars.

Thestar.com
Nov. 10, 2015
By Dana Flavelle

The president of General Motors Canada says government and industry need to work together to build smart roads for smart cars to ensure the auto industry’s future in Canada.

Steve Carlisle’s call comes as the new Liberal government in Ottawa prepares to invest billions in roads and infrastructure to boost the economy.

With global automakers like GM racing to build self-driving cars that can communicate with each other and with the road and traffic signals, the time is ripe to develop the smart infrastructure required to go with them, Carlisle said after a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto.

“Let’s say you want to put in an autonomous corridor (for self-driving cars) between Toronto and Waterloo. How do you enable that? Do we put sensors in the road so the cars know where the other cars are?” he said in an interview.

With its top-ranked engineering schools like the University of Waterloo and telecommunications giants like BlackBerry, Canada has a head start on a lot of nations, Carlisle said. But it can’t afford to waste time getting rolling.

Carlisle called on industry stakeholders to form a consortium with government and academia to kick start big collaborative projects like the self-driving test facility at the University of Michigan, which opened in July.

Governments could start by issuing requests for proposals for innovative ideas that combine new roads with new auto technology, he also said.

“We have an opportunity to gain far greater value from our infrastructure investments, reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions and above all grab this unique opportunity to anchor and unlock significant economic potential for Canada,” Carlisle said in his first speech to a national business audience since taking the helm at GM Canada.

What if, for example, a commuter from Burlington could use a mobile phone app to summon a self-driving car to take them to the GO Station, then ride the train into Toronto, and complete the last kilometre into the office on a reserved e-bike, he asked in an interview Tuesday.

No one country, government or company “owns this space yet,” he said. But others, like Singapore, China and Japan, are forging ahead.

Assembly jobs are in decline in Canada as automakers move production to emerging markets, like China, and lower cost countries, like Mexico.

The new Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major 12-nation trade deal concluded just before the federal election on Oct. 19, will further increase competition by lowering barriers to entry for countries like Japan.

Carlisle stopped short of joining Ford of Canada in calling for a review of the trade deal, which must still be approved by Parliament. But Carlisle said the pact is another reason GM sees a need to develop a new approach in Canada.

Carlisle announced GM would give $1 million to the University of Waterloo to create a research chair in light-weight materials and also provide prizes and mentors for top engineering graduates.

The company, which has so far hired 30 of 100 engineers for its Oshawa research and development facility, also announced plans to work with Waterloo-based Communitech, an innovation incubator.