Today, the City of Ottawa’s Transportation Committee received a presentation from the Kanata North Business Association outlining a plan to use autonomous vehicles to connect Kanata North to the city’s existing and planned rapid transit networks. This is wonderful news for the Kanata North Technology Park – Canada’s largest tech park and a critical driver of economic growth and employment in our city.
The results of a feasibility study show that the opportunity exists to use autonomous vehicles to help commuters get from existing and future transit stations to the Kanata North Technology Park and nearby federal facilities. The study suggests using an on-demand autonomous shuttle service that would run between Moodie Station and the Kanata North Technology Park via Carling Avenue. An autonomous electric bus would connect the area to the future Stage 3 O-Train extension via the planned March Road bus rapid transit corridor.
The Kanata North Business Association proposes to partner with Invest Ottawa to start a one-year pilot of the shuttle service from Moodie Station to the new National Defence Headquarters or possibly in the Technology Park.
I’m extremely excited about this project as it will further support the growth of the local tech park and will share updates and next steps with our community as they become available.