An opposition councillor at Montreal city hall says it's time to take the city into the 21st century when it comes to public mobility and public transit issues such as ride sharing and driverless cars - Marvin Rotrand says he'll table a motion at next month's city council meeting asking for a working group to look into the matter.
"Montreal is years behind Toronto and Vancouver," said Rotrand, leader of Coalition Montreal.
Rotrand said those other cities are already making changes to study or accomodate driverless cars and other transportation options.
Rotrand said a working group on such issues was part of the deal he had with Projet Montreal pre-election.
"And I'm calling in the marker right now, I want them to do it," said Rotrand.
Rotrand said driverless cars is a major project in several cities.
""The world is changing. It's something that is no longer science fiction. It's coming whether we want it or not and has all sorts of implications," said Rotrand.
Rotrand said they have to start planning now - whether it's rearranging or taking away parking spaces or integrating ride sharing with public transit.
"The city of Toronto in its work at council is already looking at possibly using autonomous vehicles for garbage collection, things like this. We haven't started yet in Montreal," said Rotrand.
"What does it mean on privacy for example? The use of such vehicles can generate an emormous amount of information. Who gets that? How is it used? These are things you have to look at."
Rotrand wants the working group to also look at the city's position on the light-rail project and possibly using ride-sharing companies such as Uber for public transit in remote low-ridership areas.