BCTECH Summit Featured Transportation Innovators Panel
Paul Godsmark of CAVCOE led a lively discussion at this year’s #BCTECHSummit with leaders from #Lyft and #Mojio. Panelists shared research about autonomous vehicles, new concepts such as ‘Driving as a Service’ and ‘Open Connected Car Platforms’ that shaping the future of mobility.
‘Connected Car Networks,’ 
rising consumer demand of ‘ride-hailing’ and ‘ride-sharing,’ and pressure 0n city planners to innovate public transportation systems were hot topics for a 2018 #BCTECH Summit panel of transportation innovators.
Paul introduced speakers that shared insights about emerging technologies, trends, and proven models that are shaping mobility.
“The combination of ride-sharing platforms and unmanned vehicle systems offer significant economic benefits to business and government organizations who adopt UV technologies and operational models,” Paul Godsmark, CTO at CAVCOE
Many Canadians are familiar with ‘ride-hailing and ride-sharing’ services such as Lyft and Uber. The largest argument for unmanned vehicles and ride-sharing is reducing personal and employee time ‘wasted while driving.’
Director of Public Policy for Lyft, Timothy Burr, explained:
“Our research shows that Lyft facilitated over 375 million shared rides, saving Lyft passengers 92 million travel hours compared to other transportation. We estimate this time-saving value for individuals and employers is now well over $3.2 billion.”
Data, Data, Data
The other panel presenters included Daryn Nakhuda, Founder & CEO of Mighty AI shared insights about how their company developed a platform to provide ‘perception models’ (sensing and avoiding) and ‘ground truth data’ to enable more autonomous vehicle uses.
Kenny Hawk, CEO of Vancouver-based Mojio, gathers and captures ‘driver behavioural data’ from user-installed hardware. This technology also enables users to join an ‘Open Connected Car Network,’ which further opens up ride-sharing capabilities and taxi-like services.
The rationale to adapt – and in many cases, to disrupt – transportation infrastructure, manufacturing and retail models comes from multiple sources and studies. ‘Early adopters’ want to save time and reduce their environmental impact. Individuals, business and industry eager to reduce spending on gas, insurance, parking, maintenance costs, and often…new car purchases.
Driverless Cars in the News
Business In Vancouver published a follow-up article, “Driverless cars will make roads safer, execs tell B.C. Tech Summit” with more insights from the panel. USC looks forward to continuing this discussion at the upcoming Unmanned Systems Canada Conference and Trade Show.
Learn more about Unmanned Vehicles Transforming Transportation at #UC18VANCOUVER
The 16th Annual Unmanned Canada Conference and Trade Show (October 30th to November 1st, 2018) in Vancouver, BC will enable participants to learn more from our panel of Unmanned Vehicle experts discussing “The Future of Mobility”.
The first-day theme of Unmanned Canada 2018 is ‘Partnering for Success!’ In addition to regulatory updates from Transport Canada’s UAS Task Force and a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BLVOS) Panel, our USC Board member and CAVCOE Executive Director Barrie Kirk will chair the ‘Future of Mobility’ panel of city planners, logistics experts and transportation innovators adopting Unmanned Ground Vehicle Systems.
Registration is now open for #Unmanned Canada 2018. Join us in Vancouver to learn more about ‘The Future of Mobility’ and stay informed about policies, opportunities, and new AV technologies.
This BCTECH Summit summary was written by USC Board member, Kristin Kozuback. Share your conference summaries, news releases and favourite resources with USC to post our website, social media channels and USC News. USC Member news will be prioritized, but all submissions are welcome. Email [email protected]
