Our Work
Personal Mobility
Personal transport is being disrupted every day by new business models (Uber, Lyft), changing attitudes of young people to car ownership, population growth in urban areas and the possibility of autonomous vehicles.

The Accelerator is working to define the pathways that can speed up the electrification of personal vehicles—as part of integrated transport solutions—and influencing the longer-term deployment of autonomous vehicles. Exploring these pathways can also open new economic opportunities in future vehicle and battery manufacturing potential that draw on Canada’s comparative advantage.
Latest
A Roadmap for Canada’s Battery Value Chain
Jun 2022
Allan B, Trytten L, Campbell S, Meseldzija Z, Nielsen J, Deith J, Pelletier E, Lappin L, Fischer A, Beck M, Smith M, Leung P, Rohl J, London I, Fortier M, Kabbara M
What must be done today to build a Canadian battery metals industry that will be a significant contributor to Canada’s long-term prosperity? This report argues that to seize its enormous opportunities in the battery metals value chain, Canada needs a bold national strategy, roadmap, and action plan.
Report: Autonomous Vehicles, Parking & the Real Estate Sector
Vol. 3, Iss. 4 (Oct 2021)
Layzell D, Stout M, Leary J, Stone C
For the past 100 years, the automobile, especially personally owned vehicles, have greatly impacted the design of our cities and how we live in them. However, Canada’s personal mobility systems are poised to be radically transformed by the convergence of four disruptive technology and business model innovations: vehicle automation, connectivity, electrification and car sharing. Together, these innovations enable Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD), whereby fleets of autonomous, connected and driverless vehicles will pick up and drop off passengers, effectively replacing the need for personal vehicle ownership, while providing a more convenient, safer and lower cost service.
Blog – What if our Cities only Needed a Fraction of their Parking Spaces?
Finding parking when and where you need it can be both time consuming and stress inducing. In pre-pandemic days at least, there never seemed to be enough parking.
To meet climate goals, we can’t leave autonomous vehicles on autopilot
Autonomous vehicles have come to play a major role in many visions of the transportation future, with car companies, tech companies, and policymakers all proposing their own versions of a self-driving future.
Report: Thinking about the future of autonomous vehicles
Vol. 3, Iss. 2 (Apr 2021)
Roberts C, Meadowcroft J
This report explores whether we should support the rapid introduction of autonomous vehicles in the hope that they will unlock changes in the mobility system that facilitate more low-carbon travel or be more cautious on the ground that they might make things worse.
News Release: New Report Recommends Paradigm Shift in Approach to Tackling Climate Change
Reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions will require major changes in the large-scale systems we use to meet societal needs, such as the way we produce and distribute energy or move people and goods.
Report – Pathways to Net Zero: A Decision Support Tool
Vol. 3, Iss. 1 (Jan 2021)
Meadowcroft J
The purpose of this report is to provide a simple tool to help those concerned with policy and investment decisions to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
Blog – The Transformation of Canadian Personal Mobility: Some Lessons from History
A careful reading of Canadian transportation history gives some clues for how we might achieve a more sustainable transportation system during the twenty-first century.
Report – The Rise Of The Automobile: Lessons From Historical Canadian Transportation Transitions
Vol. 2, Iss. 4 (Nov 2020)
Roberts C, Meadowcroft J, Layzell D
This paper examines the experience of an earlier transition in land transport that saw the rapid adoption of the automobile.
Report: Mobility as a service in Quebec
Vol. 2, Iss. 3 (Aug 2020)
Pedroli F, Mousseau N
This report lists the different mobility services that exist in Quebec, in particular for car sharing, personal vehicle sharing and fleets of self-service cars.