The Government of Quebec announced on May 17, 2019 a significant amendment to the text of theministerial order relating to autonomous buses and minibuses, which has allowed and regulated the deployment of such projects in Quebec since August 2018.
From now on, bodily injuries will be covered by the SAAQ. This issue was one of the main obstacles to the deployment of such projects and, more broadly, to the development of the intelligent vehicle sector in Quebec.
This amendment limits the financial risks for organizations wishing to implement autonomous shuttle projects and facilitates the future deployment of pilot projects related to autonomous public road transport.
Removal of a financial risk
The ministerial order required the promoter of an autonomous shuttle project to provide and maintain a bond with the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) in an amount corresponding to the risks specific to each experimental project, including the risks of bodily injury. This amount was assessed on a case-by-case basis by SAAQ experts.
However, in Quebec, it is the Fonds d'assurance automobile du Québec that has the responsibility to compensate victims according to ano-fault – a principle that did not apply to the autonomous shuttle pilot projects. Promoters thus found themselves unable to obtain insurance to cover the risk of bodily injury and were forced to assume the amount of the bond, which represented a substantial financial risk.
The amendment to the ministerial order's text makes it possible to get out of this deadlock. From now on, liability insurance of one million dollars is required to guarantee compensation for material damage caused by an autonomous shuttle, equivalent to what is required of owners or operators of heavy vehicles in the Highway Safety Code.
New project to be deployed soon
The May 17 publication also announced the authorization of a new autonomous shuttle project led by Transdev, which had been blocked for several months. This project will take place between Montreal's Olympic Park and Place Gennevilliers-Laliberté, and will use two shuttles from EasyMile. It is the second open-road autonomous shuttle project in Quebec, after that ofKéolis in Candiac .
