Australian ITS Summit on shaping future transport

Connected and automated vehicles, cyber security, ride-share, Mobility as a Service (Maas) and artificial intelligence (AI) were among the transport technology topics discussed at this year’s Australian Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Summit.

Hosted by ITS Australia in partnership with NSW Government and Roads and Maritime Services, the ITS Summit 2018 was Australia’s largest annual industry-led ITS conference with over 800 attendees, breaking attendance records for smart transport events in Australia.

ITS leaders from Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US joined the Australian smart transport community to explore current and future technologies at the Australian ITS Summit, 28-29 August 2018, at the International Convention Centre, Sydney.

Dean Zabrieszach, President ITS Australia, said the Summit theme, ‘Shaping Future Transport’, reflects the rapidly changing transport landscape of today while introducing future mobility technologies.

“The ITS industry continues to expand and reach into new industry segments, and increasingly plays a vital role in the safety, efficiency and sustainability of freight and people movement.

“Technology is changing so fast it not only presents opportunities to enhance the liveability of our cities and communities, it creates new and future business opportunities. Australia has the capability to capitalise on all of these.”

The ITS Summit included more than 100 Australian and international speakers, with Keynote presentations from government, international and local industry leaders all supported by a strong exhibition, technical tours and business opportunities.

Tom Walker, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, APAC at Cubic Transportation Systems. said that he firmly believes that events like this week’s Summit play a critical role in driving Australia’s transport agenda forward through promoting discussion and debate about emerging ITS trends.

“In addition to having six Cubic speakers selected to present, the event offered an excellent opportunity to hear from a range of industry leaders on an array of topics including MaaS, CAVs, data and infrastructure connectivity.

“During the event New South Wales Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Andrew Constance, announced the deployment of the world’s most advanced transport management program here in Sydney.

“The Intelligent Congestion Management Program will see the NSW government and Cubic collaborate to build an advanced multimodal transport platform enabling the Transport Management Centre to predict the congestion impact if incidents 30 minutes into the future, and act in 5 minutes, reducing congestion and making journeys safer, faster and more reliable for travellers.”

An announcement about the Connected and Highly Automated Driving (CHAD) safety study, part of the larger Cooperative and Automated Vehicle Initiative (CAVI) being delivered by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, was also made during the conference.

The CAVI project will include Australia’s largest trial of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems technologies, as well as an investigation into options for using emerging technologies to benefit pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle riders.

The CAVI project is co-funded by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, and will be delivered with the support of a number of organisations including Ipswich City Council.

Visiting from the UK, Daniel Ruiz, Chief Executive at Meridian Mobility, said he was delighted to attend and present at the ITS Summit 2018 and that the UK and Australia are amongst the emerging world leaders in the social revolution being powered by transport.

“I am pleased to be in Australia representing the UK’s government and industry investors in connected and autonomous transport; sharing what we are doing in the UK and discovering how we can work together to deliver the safety and economic benefits offered by new mobility systems and services.

“I was very impressed by the large number of attendees at this year’s Australian ITS Summit – the first for me and Meridian Mobility – and I see this event as a key opportunity for international organisations to share business ideas and opportunities.”

ITS Australia Chief Executive Susan Harris said that the strength of the industry was reflected in the attendance at the event, and the opportunities the event provided to progress the implementation of smart transport in Australia.

“We have heard some fresh ideas and concepts this year at the ITS Summit. There have been some presentations delivering controversial angles generating interesting debate and on occasion challenging the status-quo. This is refreshing for the industry that likes to have its thinking challenged ensuring we are heading in the right direction.

“ITS Australia has been leading the charge in shaping future transport for over 25 years, and we look forward to promoting and facilitating the collaboration and partnering amongst industry, government and academia in researching developing and deploying ITS technologies over the next 25 years.”