A consortium led by services provider Amey and partners RACE, Oxbotica, Siemens and Westbourne Communications has published the findings of its research into public perceptions of driverless cars.
The PAVE (People in Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Environments) project engaged with over 800 people face-to-face through exhibitions, street surveys and workshops with industry experts and 500 feedback forms were collected.
The report, which was overseen by Westbourne Communications, indicates that most peop
Australia’s first fully driverless and electric shuttle bus, the RAC Intellibus, has begun on-roads trials in South Perth, following tests in a closed environment, as part of the Royal Automobile Club’s (RAC) plan to trial autonomous vehicle technology. The RAC Intellibus will carry passengers and interact with traffic, parked cars, cyclists and pedestrians as it travels along South Perth Esplanade between the Old Mill, near the Narrows Bridge, and Sir James Mitchell Park.
In an Australian first, free wireless internet technology will be rolled out on all new Queensland Rail city trains from later this year. The announcement follows a successful Wi-Fi trial and the Queensland government will now spend AU$6.5 million (US$6.98 million) installing the technology in new trains. "The trial has been a huge success, the technology has been installed and is now fully operational on the test-train with customers able to sit, back and take advantage of the free internet on their journe
Driverless cars will have a detrimental effect on congestion and security while the road safety benefits can be achieved sooner and cheaper using ADAS, argues Colin Sowman. Many Governments are consulting about the introduction of driverless vehicles and even running trials. As 70% or 80% of crashes are caused by human error, the promise of a crash-free future of driverless, self-driving or autonomous vehicles (call them what you will) is alluring, as are the claims of reduced congestion and lower emissions
