Skip to main content

Australia and Michigan to develop safer roads and vehicle technology

The Australian government and the US state of Michigan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop vehicle and road systems to help improve road safety. Michael McCormack, deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development, says the agreement is part of a strategy to position Australia for safer roads through automated and connected vehicles. “This is just one way the government is promoting safer vehicles on safer roads, including for our region
October 10, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The Australian government and the US state of Michigan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop vehicle and road systems to help improve road safety.


Michael McCormack, deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development, says the agreement is part of a strategy to position Australia for safer roads through automated and connected vehicles.

“This is just one way the government is promoting safer vehicles on safer roads, including for our regions where road crashes remain unacceptably high,” McCormack adds.

Rick Snyder, governor of Michigan, says the partnership will share research and knowledge in the development and deployment of intelligent vehicle transportation.

“Ensuring the safety of connected and autonomous vehicles is paramount, and that will require a truly global approach to testing and validating the technology, as well as addressing the regulatory and policy environment those efforts operate in,” Snyder adds.

The MoU supports links between the University of Melbourne’s AIMES (Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem), an integrated technology programme with a live test bed on Melbourne’s streets and Michigan’s Mcity and 8742 American Center for Mobility offroad facilities.

Michigan state is a strong advocate of ITS through its technology innovation facilitator, PlanetM, which awarded its first mobility grant to transport software firm %$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 35590 0 link-external Derq false /event-news/its-america/2018/news/derq-predicts-violations-and-saves-lives/ false false%> earlier this year. Derq’s V2X software applications are used at an intersection in Detroit, Michigan to predict and prevent accidents.

Areas for possible cooperation identified within the MoU include:

• Sharing scientific, technological, regulatory and policy data, co-hosting meetings, workshops and conferences between Michigan and Australia as well as other countries.
• sharing best practices in skilled trades and workforce development programmes.
• Developing new programmes to address emerging technology needs.
• The creation of a joint task force to provide advice on strengthening Michigan and Australian technology clusters and connecting key coordinating bodies.

Andrew Broad, assistant minister to Australia’s deputy prime minister, says Australian research institutions and industries can establish better links with international counterparts under the MoU.

UTC

Related Content

  • November 6, 2018
    Uber seeks to resume AV trials nearly eight months after Arizona fatality
    Uber wants to resume testing its self-driving cars on public roads nearly eight months after one of its autonomous vehicles (AV) killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The ride-hailing company has released a voluntary safety report to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which includes safety enhancements to help prevent crashes and fatalities. Uber says its AVs would include two mission specialists – employees who have completed advanced training courses in self-driving vehicle operations. The
  • April 4, 2014
    International ITS leaders to network in Melbourne, Australia
    Intelligent transport systems (ITS) leaders from Asia, Europe, USA and Australia will meet in Melbourne at a free half-day business exchange and networking event on Friday 2 May. Convened by ITS Australia, the meeting will provide updates on ITS developments and deployments across four continents, including innovations for vehicles and infrastructure, legislative initiatives, telematics technologies and plans for the ITS World Congresses in Detroit in September this year and in Melbourne in 2016, as well
  • November 26, 2012
    Fostering ITS Policy and the IRF manifesto
    Fostering ITS Policy, an international workshop jointly organised by TTS Italia (National Association for Telematics for Transport and Safety) and the IRF Policy Committee on ITS, aims to bring together key partners from the public, private and academic sectors in Italy to discuss ITS policy frameworks and developments in ITS university education. The workshop takes place as part of the New World Conference The New World II, the ITS for mobility management convention in Bologna on 5 December 2012 at Savoia
  • January 9, 2018
    MaaS Market Conference examines transportation’s new options
    Second MaaS Market conference highlights pilots and fledgling services from around the world. That a revolution in the provision of transport services is underway is no longer in doubt. The only uncertainties are the precise form that revolution will take; who will be the winners and losers; and how long it will be before it takes root. Driven by passionate advocates of Mobility as a Service or – MaaS – a wide range of projects and different approaches are being developed worldwide. It is that move from