Skip to main content

Amey launches AV service while protecting kangaroos

Amey Australia is to operate a retrofitted autonomous pick-up truck to collect passengers living in the Australian town of Dubbo, 440km north-west of Sydney.
January 16, 2020 Read time: 1 min
© Martin Pelanek | Dreamstime.com


Amey is also investigating technology that may help detect and avoid kangaroos in a bid to protect drivers and wildlife on the country’s regional roads.

Collisions with animals make up 5% of all crashes on Australia’s roads, 90% of which involve kangaroos and wallabies.

Michael Holme, project manager at Amey Consulting, says: “The trial shows the practical outcomes that can be delivered for our communities in Australia when investment is made into smart infrastructure.”

Passengers will be able to request a trip via an on-demand app from March.

Related Content

  • Dynamic charging boosts electric vehicles’ potential
    December 16, 2014
    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
  • In-vehicle communication systems offer major safety benefits
    July 17, 2012
    Michael Schagrin and Raymond Resendes provide an update on the US Department of Transportation's vehicle-to-vehicle programme. The US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Vehicle-to- Vehicle (V2V) programme, which is concerned with wireless inter-vehicle communications for safety applications such as crash avoidance/mitigation, is a major safety component of the USDOT IntelliDrive cooperative infrastructure programme.
  • Using electricity to power road freight
    October 22, 2014
    Next year sees the start of the first real-life electrified road system for transporting freight. Worldwide freight transportation is predicted to double by 2050 but despite expansion of global rail infrastructure only one third of this additional freight transport can be handled by trains. This means that the largest proportion of freight transport will continue to be by road and as a result, experts expect global CO2 emissions from road freight traffic to more than double by 2050.
  • Cash injection to deliver smart card technology to UK rail passengers
    September 2, 2013
    The UK government is investing US$4.4 million into a trial of paperless ticketing as it starts its multi-million pound push to deliver smart card technology to rail passengers across the south east, Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced. Train operator c2c, which operates between London and the Essex coast, will upgrade ticketing systems at all of its stations outside London, paving the way for passengers to start using smart cards in the region. This will be rolled out on services outside London fr