Skip to main content

Australia steps up to next level of ITS deployment

The recent 2013 Australian ITS summit revealed that Australia is moving rapidly from test beds and pilots to real world applications of new ITS technologies, especially in the vehicle sector. The summit identified some next steps in technology to improve Australia’s transport networks, including: integrated public transport systems; interoperability of communications and ITS platforms; totally integrated multi-modal, real time traveller information; roll out of managed motorway systems; and autonomous ve
September 30, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The recent 2013 Australian ITS summit revealed that Australia is moving rapidly from test beds and pilots to real world applications of new ITS technologies, especially in the vehicle sector.

The summit identified some next steps in technology to improve Australia’s transport networks, including: integrated public transport systems; interoperability of communications and ITS platforms; totally integrated multi-modal, real time traveller information; roll out of managed motorway systems; and autonomous vehicles and “platooning” to increase road network capacity and safety.

858 ITS Australia president Brian Negus said Australia’s third biennial summit demonstrated an energised convergence of government, industry and academia to focus on both the forward strategy for national ITS, and the actual projects and initiatives required to deliver improved mobility, safety and sustainable travel.

“Governments are recognising that ITS applications can ‘sweat the asset’, but clearly the challenge is to get more funding into the sector. This amplifies the need to demonstrate the real benefits from the trials being run,” he said.

Summit delegates learned there is great synergy between the strategies and initiatives across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and Australia was recognised as a leading developer and installer of ITS.

Chairman of 560 ITS America Peter Sweatman, who was a keynote speaker, emphasised the renowned capability of Australia in the international ITS industry, highlighting in particular the areas of road safety and freight where he considers Australia to be a world leader.

ITS Australia chief executive officer Susan Harris said it was satisfying to see a wider range of ITS representatives at this year’s summit, including delegates from spatial and mapping, transport and logistics, transit, traffic sensing and other specialist fields.

“The varied inputs at the summit reflected the need for and importance of clear policies and strategies to ensure that key industry issues are addressed. This is critical to get traction in priority areas in an industry that is so diverse and technically complex,” she said.

Related Content

  • August 2, 2017
    ITS Australia 2017 summit announces technical tours
    ITS Australia has announced the optional technical tours that will take place during the 2017 summit in Brisbane 27-29 September, providing delegates with behind the scene tours to Brisbane’s ITS technologies and control centres!.Tours will be held on Day 3 – Friday 29 September 2017 from 0830 to 1630, hosted by Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. During Tour 1, to Brisbane’s public transport system: multi-modal ITS transport solution, takes place from 0830 to 1630, delegates will be shown r
  • January 25, 2018
    Hurdles to MaaS adoption highlighted
    Jack Opiola talks to some MaaS advocates in the US. Cities will accommodate almost 60% of the world’s population by 2025 and technology is outpacing transportation plans and planners - putting extreme pressures upon planners and transportation systems alike. Big data, digital payments, ubiquitous communications, smartphone applications, on-demand travel and autonomous vehicles are all shredding existing transport plans. Never before has the pace of population growth and the tools to address this problem
  • April 9, 2014
    Global toll revenues $8.5bn while technology ‘battles’ continue
    ABI Research’s Dominique Bonte talks to Jason Barnes about trends in tolling and how a wider appreciation of technology options is sorely needed. Global Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) solution revenues will grow to $8.5bn by 2018, with ETC becoming a main source of funding for both Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Vehicle-to-X (V2X) cooperative infrastructures, according to a new report from ABI Research (Chart 1). But, says the report’s author, ABI Research vice president and practice director Dom
  • January 31, 2012
    Investment and innovation the future of ITS
    Cisco's Paul Brubaker, former administrator of the US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), takes a look at how the ITS sector is starting to attract the attention of major corporations and what this will mean for intelligent transportation in the coming years