Skip to main content

Australia to trial autonomous vehicles on public roads

Australia’s Victorian government is to begin a trial to look at how automated vehicles can interact with Australian road infrastructure. VicRoads will work with industry to seek feedback on the government’s Future Directions Paper, which outlines the need for regulatory changes to allow testing of highly automated vehicles on public roads. The consultation will focus on how to ensure road safety during testing on public roads, what constitutes a driver ‘being in control’ and understanding how the changi
December 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Australia’s Victorian government is to begin a trial to look at how automated vehicles can interact with Australian road infrastructure. 4728 VicRoads will work with industry to seek feedback on the government’s Future Directions Paper, which outlines the need for regulatory changes to allow testing of highly automated vehicles on public roads.

The consultation will focus on how to ensure road safety during testing on public roads, what constitutes a driver ‘being in control’ and understanding how the changing technology will interact with our transport system.

It will also work to create a framework to allow for a wide range of vehicles to be trialled on Victoria’s roads, potentially including highly automated vehicles, where a driver is not in control of the vehicle.

From early next year, a range of automated vehicles will be trialled on the Monash-Citylink-Tullarmine corridor, in a partnership between the government and 600 Transurban.  The trial will test vehicles currently on the market, to understand how autonomous vehicle technology interacts with road infrastructure including overhead lane signals, electronic speed signs and line marking.

The trial will begin with testing automated vehicles that comply with existing road rules and road safety regulations. A human driver will monitor the vehicle’s operation, ready to take back control at any time.

It will also build on the knowledge gathered through the testing of the 311 Bosch Highly Automated Driving Vehicle unveiled during the 6456 ITS World Congress in October.

Related Content

  • February 3, 2012
    Need for best practice enforcement standards
    Leading systems suppliers discuss how recent events in Italy have affected the automated enforcement sector and how the situation might be remediated
  • December 16, 2014
    Dynamic charging boosts electric vehicles’ potential
    With an increasing need to use electric vehicles in city centres to reduce pollution, David Crawford looks at various solutions to power delivery. The UN’s September 2014 Climate Summit has added fresh momentum to the drive to increase urban electric vehicle (EV) takeup. It has launched the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative, which wants to see EVs accounting for 30% of all urban travel by 2030, and make cities worldwide more friendly to their use. Encouragingly, the plan is being well supported by commerci
  • August 29, 2019
    Cohda trial proves C-ITS can work in tunnels
    Connected cars require uninterrupted signals to ensure driving safety. Going underground creates problems – but a trial in Norway suggests that there might be light at the end of the tunnel… As connectivity becomes increasingly important for transportation – in particular for connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) - the problem of ‘blackspots’ and dead zones where signals fail or drop out is a pressing one. But developments early this year suggest that advances in technology might be on the brink of d
  • January 25, 2018
    Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a