4 ms·

Toronto expressly bans robots on it's sidewalks (granted, pending further review): https://cities-today.com/toronto-city-council-votes-to-ban-pavement-robots/ h

• KomoD 3y ago
  > Toronto expressly bans robots on it's sidewalks That's a good thing, they are just in the way (especially for people with disabilities). Sidewalks are for pedestrians, not robots.
  • bluefirebrand 3y ago
    Yeah this won't be popular with the "tech above all, progress at all costs" crowd, but I don't see how having unlicenced, unregulated, and unpredictable robots navigating sidewalks is a good thing
    • thehappypm 3y ago
      Banning is an overreaction though
• smcl 3y ago
  Canada can also be a very friendly place for technology companies - see all the games dev studios that popped up in Montreal
  • ska 3y ago
    For example these tax credits : https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-research-experimental-development-tax-incentive-program.html https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/scientific-... are amazing.
    • blackeyeblitzar 3y ago
      I’m not familiar with Canadian regulations but isn’t there a debate right now about capital gains tax and its effects on venture capital and startups?
      • ska 3y ago
        The thing I linked to is corporate tax credits, fwiw.
  • pesfandiar 3y ago
    Not all tech companies are the same. Perhaps Canada is hostile to tech bros looking to socialize harms and risks and privatize profits.
    • smcl 3y ago
      That’s no bad thing in my book
• sircastor 3y ago
  It's worth noting that the ban is intended to be temporary. They want some more time to consider what the effects are [1] I get the idea, but I think it ends up being a bit ham-fisted. There's a compromise path that works for everyone. The company I work for has hired a number of Canadians. There is a fair population of robotics companies and roboticists right around Toronto. [1] https://www.therobotreport.com/toronto-city-council-votes-to-ban-sidewalk-robots/ https://www.therobotreport.com/toronto-city-council-votes-to...
  • jessriedel 3y ago
    Does anyone really think bills to ban something, even if temporary, are motivated by an honest desire for more time to "consider the effects" of something? Who is sitting around and doing this pondering? Does anyone's mind ever change? It seems to me people have made a decision, and then if they can't gather the majority for a permanent ban they compromise on a temporary one.
    • ska 3y ago
      Sometimes, definitely. Other times it’s obstructionist.
    • icegreentea2 3y ago
      I can't speak to the general case, but in this specific case, the city has decided to basically punt and wait for the province's plan. Is the province being slow? Maybe. https://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=39087&language=en https://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=390...
      • jessriedel 3y ago
        Not sure I understand. You’re raising a case in ON, distinct from the OP article discussing BC, right? Regardless, there are surely cases where one governing body delays a decision until action is taken by another governing body, or until a study is finished, or whatever. I’m talking about the claim that the delay is to give time for the issue to be “considered”.
• afavour 3y ago
  I can absolutely understand it being frustrating when you work in the industry but I can see a ton of very valid concerns when it comes to robots on sidewalks. There are already a lot of accessibility concerns with these scooter companies that let people leave scooters wherever (blocking access for wheelchair or otherwise disabled folks), seems valid to me that you’d want to make sure those robots do not hinder other kinds of sidewalk transit.
  • dylan604 3y ago
    I would trust a robot to be less obstructionist than randomly placed scooters by inconsiderate humans
  • coryrc 3y ago
    Measure the width from one building, across the street, to the other. The vast majority of the space is taken up by land reserved for cars. Scooters are not the problem. The fact that cars are allowed sole domain of the vast majority of public spaces is.
    • afavour 3y ago
      You’ll hear no disagreement from me on that but I don’t see us anywhere near reimagining how we allocate road space. So absent some unexpected and dramatic shift, scooters/robots/whatever are still able to cause obstructions.
    • basil-rash 3y ago
      The answer is 100% not to allow more 4 wheeled vehicles to take over the small amount of space the two/four legged individuals have left. I have 80% a mind to push every food carrying robot into the street where they belong when I see them coming by on a sidewalk making everyone leap out of the way to avoid their drunken careening.
    • blackeyeblitzar 3y ago
      Yes but the cars’ use is sanctioned and by design, while scooters are taking up space meant for pedestrians and bikes. That can be reallocated but when it happens without any discussion or update to laws, it can upset people. But the difficulty is that a small startup can’t afford to fight political or legal battles, so it’s easier for them to just break some rules. Is that a good thing? Maybe.
• kbar13 3y ago
  sure that's one way of putting it. but the robots definitely get in the way of people, there's turmoil in SF because of robotaxis, and robotaxis have caused severe injuries. so - with that being the risk i would be ok with being a bit slow to the market to ensure that tech is in a better state. like, you getting access to gmail beta as soon as it came out is a much different risk surface than a 4 ton metal thing going fast on the roads
• jejeyyy77 3y ago
  lol, sounds like a good thing to me
• deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]