The 4th International Driverless Vehicle Summit outlined leading government automated vehicle programs and car manufacturing case studies in the US, while announcing an Australian-first driverless vehicle trial.
When the International Driverless Vehicle Summit (IDVS) launched four years ago in Adelaide, Volvo had become the first commercial vehicle operator to launch a connected and automated vehicle (CAV) trial in Australia.
Now four years on, Transport for NSW has been trialling automated passenger shuttles at Sydney Olympic Park.
In Queensland, the Mount Cotton driving centre is expected to be handed over soon to the Royal Automotive Club of Queensland to launch an off-road CAV test bed.
WA has, since 2015, tested an electric shuttle bus on public roads which has to date travelled more than 22,000 kilometres in autonomous mode.
The Australian Road Research Board’s (ARRB) National Transport Research Centre at Fisherman’s Bend has also been earmarked as a new test bed for CAV. Additionally, ARRB has completed a world-first sign and line recognition project, which has drawn significant interest from US researchers.
Roads & Infrastructure attended the fourth International Driverless Vehicle Summit, hearing from overseas best practice and household names like General Motors International.
Spruiking the tagline “forging the future”, the three-day event, held 27-29 October, offered an interactive experience for visitors. This comprised a ride in an autonomous shuttle by autonomous car company NAYVA and the debut of the world’s first portable connected bus stop and transit hub, developed by SAGE Automation.
As much has changed since IDVS made its debut, ARRB CEO Michael Caltabiano set the scene on day two.
He said the future is about ensuring CAVs are certified and operationally tested for Australian conditions, with on-road and off-road testing at the heart of it.
Speaking to a diverse audience of road managers, government and commercial road vehicle manufacturers, Mr. Caltabanio highlighted the evolving nature of transport. Clean, green, efficient, carbon-neutral and mobility-enabled, he said this was the future ARRB envisioned for transport with CAV a key part.
“Connected and automated vehicles, you look at Japan, Korea, the US and Europe, you don’t look to Australia. We need to be much better at engaging,” he said.
He said that for the past century we have been building the same infrastructure, but the world had changed.
“The new generation thinks of journeys completely differently. They think of journeys that are connected,” he said.
He said that ARRB had begun conversations with the Victorian Government regarding making Fisherman’s Bend a CAV test bed.
However, in order to move towards mobility as a service, strong relationships with the private sector and government were needed.
“What does a mobility enabled-community looks like and feel like? We don’t know, because we don’t have one.”
Fortunately, Mr. Caltabanio said a transition was underway with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and NSW Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance both stating their governments stand ready to invest.
Building on this momentum earlier in the day, Mr. Constance announced an Australian-first trial of a driverless shuttle bus service at Sydney Olympic Park.
The trial will permit the first vehicle in the country to interact autonomously with live traffic conditions. The vehicles will communicate autonomously with live traffic signals to negotiate an intersection, connecting passengers to Olympic Park Stadium, restaurants and car parks.
“This new stage is important to help us understand how autonomous vehicles can connect to our infrastructure, like traffic lights and digital bus stops,” Mr. Constance said.
National Roads and Motorists’ Association CEO Rohan Lund said some 94 per cent of crashes were caused by human error, so autonomous vehicles had potential to save thousands of lives and dramatically reduce congestion.
In an address to IDVS earlier in the day, Mr. McCormack said automated vehicles and connected infrastructure can contribute to making Australian roads safer.
“Whether it’s the safe system approach, placing emphasis on both vehicle and infrastructure design as to prevent death and serious injury, connected and automated vehicles have the potential to contribute to a safe system through providing and analysing data,” he said.
He said that it wasn’t just about ensuring lines and barriers were in the right place, but having a strong road surface.
“And of course, automated vehicles also promise to boost the quality of life for many people who have restricted mobility, whether through disability, older age or simply a lack of transport services,” he added, signalling a key theme of the conference – mobility as a service.
CALIFORNIA’S FIRST CONNECTED CORRIDOR
On day one, Randall Kawasaki, Executive Director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, discussed Innovate 680 – California’s first connected corridor for the future.
With a population of more than 1.1 million residents in 19 cities in the San Francisco Bay, Contra Costa County has an extensive transport network of major freeways, regional rail services and bus operations.
Innovate 680 is characterised by seven component strategies, including carpool/express lanes, high capacity transit with first/last mile connectivity and transportation demand management such as a shared mobility program.
“The second biggest issue of the Bay area [is] congestion…We know we can’t build our way out of congestion,” Mr. Kawasaki told the audience.
Contra Costa County has been awarded a $7.5 million grant to support three autonomous vehicle demonstration projects as part of an automated driving system pilot program.
The Contra Costa Transportation Authority also received an $8 million grant from the US Department of Transport to deliver a mobility as-a-service platform. A report will be produced to analyse the service’s platform, which will be verified by the University of California, Berkeley.
Speaking to Roads & Infrastructure, Mr. Kawasaki said initiatives include the development of an open platform for a trip planner with the county’s subway system named BART.
He said the goal was a three-year roll-out, interstate and then ultimately to other counties over time.
Highlighting the nuances of autonomous vehicles, Mr. Kawasaki pointed out that pedestrian bridges were even being widened for self-driving vehicles, negating the need to retrofit bridges, which could be a costly exercise.
In terms of cybersecurity issues, Mr. Kawasaki said as it was a pilot project, it was best to isolate the vehicle.
Broadly speaking, he said the possibilities of technology were wide-ranging.
“I think that’s the future from a transportation perspective. We’ve been on the reactive side for a century. Now let’s move to the proactive side using technology,” he said.
“Bridges can tell you when they’re getting stressed with sensors so there’s a lot of opportunity in the infrastructure using future technologies as well.”
Mr. Kawasaki said Contra Costa County was planning on signing an agreement with ARRB to data share on CAVs and help inform outcomes in Australia.
However, he stopped short of predicting a reduction in private ownership for vehicles, highlighting it will help reduce the cost of transportation.
CATERING TO THE CUSTOMER
Evan Walker, Director of the Smart Innovation Centre Freight, Strategy and Planning at Transport for NSW, also spoke of designing trends for the customer experience.
“Our job is about moving people and goods and using technology to do that,” Mr. Walker told Roads & Infrastructure.
“This is a technology sphere but it’s really for us to deliver outcomes for customers. But to do that, you can’t just expect it to work straight away, so we need to trial the technology, develop infrastructure and take all the steps to get to the point where it’s useful for customers.”
In 2017, a trial of the state’s first automated smart shuttle began at Sydney Olympic Park, carrying up to 12 passengers at a time. Mr. Walker said this was a great example of collaboration with local businesses and the community.
“We spoke to people in the precinct, we spoke to customers, we found out what they wanted to do but we realised the tech wasn’t quite there,” Mr. Walker said.
“We had to do some integration with traffic signals, real-time bus stops … so it’s taken us a while to do that integration. There was no point in us putting it out as a separate service until it could deliver at a level we thought was useful for customers.”
Transport for NSW has also partnered with industry, researchers, local councils and businesses in Australia-first regional trials of four automated shuttle buses in Armidale and Coffs Harbour.
Commenting on the potential for mobility as a service in NSW, Mr. Walker said one of the regional trials had already been incorporated into a trip planner.
On questions of whether NSW could become an important state for CAV testing over the next 20 years, Mr. Walker said he hoped to bring the technology into the main a bit sooner.
“We’re really interested in scale deployments of technology that has really meaningful impacts onto our transport network,” he said.
He added that Transport for NSW hoped to accelerate it with proof-of-concept trials.
“Some of that might be 10, 20 years away, some of it might be much sooner.”
The Society of Automotive Engineers developed six levels describing the road from a normal vehicle to a fully autonomous Level 5 vehicle. It has become a globally accepted standard for autonomous vehicle development. Level 1 and 2 (Driver Assistance and Partial Automation) technology covers automated brake assist, fitted to vehicles since 2000.
Level 3 is conditional automation, capable of overseeing the driving task in limited stations with a driver behind the wheel. Level 4 (High Automation) removes the need for a driver, but the technology cannot operate under all road conditions.
Finally, Level 5 removes the need for pedals and a steering wheel and takes the driver away from the driving task under all conditions.
“I think when it comes to driverless vehicles, when you look at the private market, we’re already seeing some of the tech in vehicles now.
“But I think the point where you or I purchase a Level 3 or a Level 4 or Level 5 private vehicle, that is a long way off,” Mr. Walker said.
Anthony Riemann, Director of Urban Mobility of General Motors (GM) International, cited the failure of 90s camera tech giant Kodak. The company declared bankruptcy in 2012, after being arguably slow to respond to the digital revolution.
GM launched a carsharing service at the beginning of 2016, giving users the ability to reserve cars by the hour or the day for personal use.
Pointing to the growth of mobility services, he said companies can’t ignore customer demand and that GM customers are looking for more choice and less commitment when it comes to vehicle ownership.
He noted that vehicle ownership would stay strong for decades, but businesses needed to adapt.