News

The economic benefits of self-driving vehicles are widely touted: car crashes will be virtually eliminated, slashing health-care costs, while less time will be wasted idling in traffic, boosting worker productivity and reducing fuel consumption.

But there’s another side to the equation: hundreds of thousands of driving-related jobs could be lost, not to mention all the health-care professionals, insurance agents and even lawyers whose work is connected to the driving economy.

The Conference Board of Canada in a report published last year estimated that the economic benefits from automated vehicles could be more than $65 billion annually, the result of a significant decline in collisions, congestion and fuel consumption, plus more free time for commuters. Financial Post (05/20)