Driving the future at final day of ATRF and ARRB Conference

Disruptive technologies in transport lead the agenda on the third and final day of the 38th Australasian Transportation Researchers’ Forum (ATRF) Conference and 27th ARRB Conference.

Having already created discussion around managing infrastructure demand, the impact of climate change on infrastructure and a wide array of other topics relating to the future of road and transport infrastructure in Australia, the three-day conference marked its final day with some interesting insights into technologies shaping the future of the industry.

The final day’s presentations at the conference, held at the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park, explored the potential for technological innovation in the road and transport sector, namely through disruptive technologies such as autonomous vehicles, intelligent transport systems (ITS), big data, the Internet of Things and other game-changing concepts at the forefront of the ever-changing infrastructure sector.

Gerard Waldron, Vice President of Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) and Fiona Calvert, Director Transport Information and Analysis for the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources introduced the day’s three keynote speakers, all of whom shared valuable insight into the role disruptive technologies may have in the future of road and transport infrastructure.

Kirsten Dunlop, Executive General Manager of Strategic Innovation and Personal Insurance at Suncorp, gave an intricate talk on the different apps, concepts and ideas being introduced around the world that may impact on how people move around, specifically through concepts such as car sharing.

Beyond already established apps such as Uber, Dr. Dunlop talked about concepts such as Link & Co, which is being developed to allow users to essentially share out their car when it’s not in use.

She explained that there are still myriad questions to consider in this space, such as who the customers for this type of application even are.

Dr. Dunlop raised further questions about the notion of mobility as service, and how these future technologies will impact how the public uses cars and transport. She exemplified the London Oyster card in this case. Since its introduction in 2003, there has been a 53 per cent increase in the use of public transport.

When other, more integrated mediums are introduced, such as those utilising real-time data and information, they may provide even more opportunities for the future.

These include concepts such as car systems that are fully integrated so that they could potentially book cars into services and even secure paid parking spaces independently. She also touched upon the role of the insurer when these disruptive technologies arrive and how that may change.

Hussein Dia, Associate Professor, Transport Engineering at Swinburne University followed Dr. Dunlop by exploring ideas around self-driving vehicles and shared mobility, and how the narrative of mobility is changing.

He said the focus is not just on building roads, but now it is on demand management and resilience. The emphasis is also shifting from just moving vehicles about the network to mobility that helps people to access jobs, services and provides economic opportunities.

Prof Dia explained these concepts through the changes that may occur in private car ownership and the impact of car sharing and road sharing.

He also talked about autonomous vehicles and the potential for the technologies and its impact on the future of urban mobility, creating some discussion that would be explored in a comprehensive session later in the day.

Tony Braxton-Smith, Deputy Secretary, Customer Services Division at Transport for New South Wales, took the audience through the organisation’s draft roadmap for future transport road system, providing some extensive insight, from a state perspective, on how disruptive technologies such as driverless vehicles, big data and ITS may have in the future.

After the keynote presentations, the third day of the conference culminated in an extensive session on the Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative (ADVI) and the major milestones it has achieved as well as recent activities and industry updates. Michael Regan from ARRB Group, Brian Haratsis from MacroPlan, Greg Bosnich of Volvo Australia, Peter Damen from the ADVI and Pat Walker from RAC WA spoke on the topic, providing updates on the progress made by the initiative and its focuses for the future.

The rest of the day consisted of a wide range of technical sessions covering the likes of bridges and structures, congestions relief, transport policy and more.