Candiac Autonomous Shuttle

The autonomous electric shuttle operates on Montcalm Boulevard on a 2km route between the park-and-ride lot/bus terminal and the city's Landmark Park at the other end of the boulevard. The route is fixed and has eight stops which are accessible at bus stops. Along the way, the shuttle encounters mixed traffic on public streets, an industrial park with trucks, a railway crossing and street light crossings. The schedule of the service was adjusted to meet the citizens' needs after testing various periods of the day (morning, weekend). The vehicle is not wheelchair accessible.

The City of Candiac puts great emphasis on sustainable development and mobility. This pilot is perfectly aligned with the city’s vision in terms of innovation and is at the heart of the 2014-2029 strategic plan.

This pilot has several objectives:

• To reinforce the importance of public and active transportation with the principles of sustainable development;
• To improve the passengers' experience especially within the commercial and industrial park which are currently not served by shared transport modes. There is a particular need to fill the first/ last mile distances;
• To bring a solution to the parking issues downtown;
• To integrate intermodal transportation solutions in the city center while encouraging the use of the public transit network and consequently, optimising the park-and-ride lot;
• To foster and promote efficient and eco-friendly travel by local residents.

The total budget of this pilot is $500,000 CAD. It is co-financed by the Québec Government/ Propulsion Québec ($350,000 CAD worth of subsidy), by the City of Candiac ($100,000 CAD) and by Keolis ($50,000 CAD).

The pilot follows the Highway Safety Code by the Ministry of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification.

Three important modifications had to be made in order to ensure the functioning of the pilot. The first one is that a stop sign had to be installed to allow the shuttle to make a left turn. This is because in order to be able to calculate the oncoming cars' speed, which is essential to make a left turn without stopping, the shuttle must have a visibility clearance of 150/200m. This addition was therefore necessary to ensure the passengers' comfort and safety. The second addition was street furniture. These had to be installed along the route segment to allow the Lidar sensors to correctly map out the area as, originally, there were no landmarks or buildings close to the curb. And finally, the pilot had to modify the traffic lights to make them communicate with the shuttle as the vehicle does not recognise colours.

So far, the vehicle has transported 272 passengers with an average of 15 per day, at an average operational speed of 15km/h. Both the City of Candiac and its citizens (passengers) were extremely satisfied with the pilot. No accident occurred but a manual intervention was needed when the shuttle suddenly stopped because of a tree branch. This branch was too close to the street and the sensors read it as an obstacle.

The CAA-Québec Foundation is an associated research to the pilot. Its aim is to identify all issues and considerations associated to the arrival of the shuttle on our roads in order to ensure a harmonised and safe road sharing. To do so, the impact on pedestrians, cyclists or car drivers must be evaluated.