Skip to main content

ITS Australia supports Melbourne’s world first ‘urban laboratory’

ITS Australia has welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement of a unique hi-tech transport project for Melbourne. The National Connected Multimodal Transport (NCMT) test bed will develop pilots and facilitate collaborations between government, industry and academia. It will utilise thousands of sensors and wireless units fitted to roads to provide insight into how to manage transport systems and road networks in a more efficient way. The urban laboratory would cover approximately 7 kilometres
January 6, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
858 ITS Australia has welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement of a unique hi-tech transport project for Melbourne.

The National Connected Multimodal Transport (NCMT) test bed will develop pilots and facilitate collaborations between government, industry and academia. It will utilise thousands of sensors and wireless units fitted to roads to provide insight into how to manage transport systems and road networks in a more efficient way.

The urban laboratory would cover approximately 7 kilometres of roadways in Melbourne.

ITS Australia confirmed its participation in the project by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with test bed leaders, the University of Melbourne, late last year.

The first pilot NCMT test bed is scheduled to be launched in April 2017.

ITS Australia CEO Susan Harris said the test bed and a recent iMOVE CRC submission to the Federal Government show just how seriously Australia takes real-time, data-driven research to find the best possible outcomes.

Professor Iven Mareels, Dean of the Melbourne School of Engineering said a connected community was the key to improved transport options, while founding director of the NCMT test bed and University of Melbourne Professor in Transport for Smart Cities, Majid Sarvi, said the urban laboratory will be a living experiment of connected vehicles and transport networks, people movements and city infrastructure.

Related Content

  • February 28, 2013
    ITS America concerned over use of 5GHz spectrum band
    ITS America has raised con­cerns with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the potential use of the 5GHz band spec­trum by unlicensed national information infrastructure devices. It wants to protect the 5.9GHz band for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC)-based systems. These crucially underpin the development of connected vehicle (CV) technologies which could help slash the US’ annual tally of six million road traffic accidents and over 30,000 deaths. Within the US Department of Trans
  • December 15, 2014
    Ertico prepares for World Congress 2015
    Hot on the heels of the 21st ITS World Congress in Detroit, Ertico - ITS Europe is already writing session proposals, contacting speakers and putting together the demonstration programme for the 2015 ITS World Congress. This will take place from 5-9 October in the French city of Bordeaux, one of the most advanced cities in Europe in terms of ITS adoption, and will have the theme of ‘Towards intelligent mobility – Better use of space’.
  • January 29, 2013
    ITS America 23rd annual meeting highlights life-saving vehicle technology
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s (ITS America) 23rd Annual Meeting and Exposition will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN from April 22 – 24, 2013, and will showcase the latest ITS technology solutions with an exhibit hall and panel discussions featuring national, regional and local transportation officials and innovation leaders. The three-day event will highlight the latest transportation innovations that are being developed and implemented acr
  • October 28, 2019
    Why Netflix could overcome road pricing resistance
    As the US moves towards a national road usage charging trial, education is paramount – and subscription services like Netflix might help people understand why the money is needed, writes Bill Cramer