IoT & CLOUD COMMUNICATION // PARTNER SOLUTIONS
“Governments will need to be flexible and in tune with changing technology to help facilitate the transition to a more harmonised approach." Paul Retter,Chief Executive and Commissioner of the National Transport Commission (NTC)
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Mr Harvey said road infrastructure needs to be nationally consistent for technology and intelligent transport systems to be able to function appropriately. “The role for technology and intelligent transport systems needs to be consistent, it needs to be built on the same rules and standards, so that we develop a consistent infrastructure,” Mr Harvey said. “If we don’t have collaboration then what we’re going to have is a disjointed outcome, and I don’t think that’s what the public is going to be expecting. I think the public expect to be able to drive anywhere in Australia using the same vehicle and following the same rules and regulations.”
cars and the road infrastructure will interact in a consistent way across Australia,” Ms Harris said. Mr Retter said we are already seeing variability with road signs and this creates issues for camera systems in vehicles. “Automated vehicles will benefit from greater consistency in standards around signage, line markings and variable message signs,” Mr Retter said. “Automation is an opportunity to dramatically improve safety on our roads and reduce the current death toll. It could also significantly improve transport productivity. However, we will need to be smart about the way we approach these issues as there is also the possibility of adverse impacts, such as on congestion.”
ADDING AUTOMATION TO THE EQUATION Vehicles with automated technology collect data from road infrastructure in order to function properly. Ms Harris said varying infrastructure from state to state can affect automated vehicle efficiency. “We need consistency… so that when we bring cars in that can talk to our traffic lights and our intersections, and cars that can read our signs, we know that our
STEPS TOWARD HARMONY Collaboration between states, national government and strong industry associations is needed to facilitate the discussion and help develop a nationally consistent approach. Various industry bodies are putting together legislation and regulation to support a national model. In order to gain consistency in road infrastructure, the NTC recently released a report proposing 13 amendments to
November 2017 // ISSUE 5
Australian road rules in order to facilitate harmonisation between states and territory transport laws. The proposed amendments reflect advances in driver technology, clarification of existing road rules and improved road safety. The NTC is also developing an end-toend regulatory framework for automated vehicles. “[The framework] includes developing the safety assurance system – essentially establishing the role of government in assessing the safety of automated driving systems and determining the safety criteria that should apply,” Mr Retter said. The iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) was also officially launched in October of this year and will combat Australia’s complex road problems through collaborative research and development programs. In addition, Austroads is running trials and developing guides and standards for infrastructure to ensure a level of consistency. “Each state is running events, trials, across the network, and those trials are linked in through Austroad so that we’re not repeating exactly what each trial has done in each state, we’re trying to build on what each
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