You'll be able to ride self-driving electric shuttles in Alberta's largest cities this fall

Calgarians and Edmontonianswill be able to test-rideautonomous, electric shuttles for free once two pilot programs launch later this year.

This is the first time in Canada that this kind of pilot program has been made accessible to the general public, according to Andrew Sedor, a transportation plannerwith the City of Calgary, as the projects were announced in Edmonton Wednesday.

Dubbed the "ELA," theEasyMileEZ10will seat 12 andwill travel at low speeds roughly 12 km/h and on separate roadways where there are no other vehicles, bicyclesor pedestrians.

In Calgary, the free shuttle will runbetween theTelusSpark Science Centre and the Calgary Zoo alonga service lane.

Theroute in Edmonton will be announced later this summer once it is approved by Alberta Transportation. It should be operational in October, said Stephanie McCabe with the City of Edmonton.

The pilot projects will likely operate for up to one month, but may be extended if feedback is positive.

"Ifthe public really, really enjoys it, then we can definitely explore running it for longer,"Sedorsays.

About the ELA

This particular vehicle has been tested in 20 countries on four different continents, and is in permanent use in both Singapore and Arlington, Texas, said Dan Finley, vice-president of business development with thePacific Western Group of Companies, which is helping sponsor the project.

Finley said the vehicle has been tested in all sorts of weather environments, from humidity to snow.

The ELA, which is made by the French company EasyMile, is fully electric and has no steering wheel. It uses 3D mapping and localization data from four sensors and additional video cameras as it steers itself.

It can connect to a 4G network, which allows for remote supervision and data monitoring by both Pacific Western Transportation and researchers at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.

Information collected by the program will inform future urban planning decisions andhelp academics understand how people respond to changing technologies.

The projects are the result of a partnership between academia, industry and all three levels of government.