The individuals who attended the Central North American Trade Corridor Association鈥檚 second biennial Trade, Transportation and Technology Conference at the 小蓝视频east College鈥檚 Estevan campus on April 26 heard of some interesting developments, including the evolution of autonomous vehicles.
David Blair, the CEO of Network Solutions and Services in Bismarck, N.D., and Justin Glasser, the manager of Tubular Transport and Logistics, discussed the impact that autonomous vehicle technologies will have on businesses, including those on the energy sector.
They also discussed electric vehicles, and how those will impact the power generation industry.
鈥淕M is projected to have 500,000 new electric cars in another year, so that鈥檚 going to impact the power grid, and how we are going to handle that,鈥� Blair said.
He predicted electronic cars could carry some good news for Saskatchewan and North Dakota, because both areas produce a lot of electricity through coal.
鈥淚t could offset how much demand we鈥檒l have for oil and for natural gas,鈥� he said.
Blair and Glasser also talked about how automation could affect the trucking industry.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to see an impact there,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to need more drivers, and not too many people are volunteering or want to become a long haul truck driver.鈥�
Seventy per cent of goods and products are still moved by semi-trucks, Blair said. Autonomous trucks would ease the concerns of how to move products without truck drivers.
But there will always be jobs for people associated with the trucking industry.
鈥淲hat we talked about today was you need to look at the future and start preparing, especially the young people on the educational component side of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nformation-technology is going to be big, data collection is going to be big with these autonomous vehicles. You鈥檙e still going to need a lot of people who are going to service these autonomous vehicles as well.鈥澛�
There are six different levels of autonomous vehicles, he said. Right now they are at Level 3, which means a driver is still needed behind the steering wheel, but there are a lot of autonomous capabilities, including those that can self-reverse, sense oncoming traffic before changing lanes, or stop if they sense an accident is coming.
Vehicles are moving to Level 4 very quickly.
聽鈥淭he technology is really there. They鈥檙e just refining it,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of it has to do with the chips that will be part of it, because your car becomes a computer, and 小蓝视频 able to react to different situations and road conditions.鈥澛�
Ten or 11 states already have legislation for fully autonomous vehicles, and other states and provinces could adopt their own.
A public awareness effort will be important, he said. There are concerns of how many people will accept autonomous vehicles, particularly among older generations.
But when Blair asked the crowd in Estevan for a show of hands of how many people would jump in an autonomous vehicle, and travel from the college to their home, about two-thirds of people raised their hands.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to see both sides say 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 safe鈥� and 鈥楾his is safe鈥� and that kind of stuff,鈥� said Blair. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to have to be up to the individual if they want to do it.鈥�
Some will say they enjoy driving too much to use an autonomous vehicle, but Blair countered it could allow people to continue driving later in life.
Blair ended his presentation by talking about on flying cars, and how long it will be before that technology arrives. He believes it鈥檚 not that far off, but new regulations will be needed, including the determination of whether they are an airplane or a car.
鈥淚 would say within five years, you鈥檙e going to see some of these states will be adopting (legislation), allowing these flying cars to move around,鈥� said Blair.聽
