ITS Australia joins Melbourne Uni’s ‘urban laboratory’:: Pilot program to launch in April
National membership organisation, Intelligent Transport Systems Australia (ITS Australia), has voiced its support for the recently-announced 'urban laboratory' which will serve as a test bed for emerging technologies like connected vehicles, roadways, and public transport.
In a statement released this week, ITS Australia welcomed the Victorian Government's announcement for the high-tech transport project – which was first announced in October last year – and confirmed its participation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Melbourne last year.
The National Connected Multimodal Transport (NCMT) urban laboratory will cover approximately seven kilometres worth of Melbourne's roadways, north to south from Alexandra Parade to Victoria Street, and east to west from Hoddle Street to Lygon Street.
"Governments, industry, business and academics need to have more accurate data and research to provide meaningful transport options," said Susan Harris, CEO of ITS Australia.
"Australia is a world leader in ITS and we support initiatives and opportunities to make our cities and communities smarter, safer and more efficient."
"The test bed and a recent iMOVE CRC submission to the Federal Government show just how seriously Australia takes real-time, data-driven research to find the best possible outcomes," Harris added.
Meanwhile, founding director of the NCMT test bed and professor for transport for smart cities at the University of Melbourne, Majid Sarvi, said the urban laboratory will serve as a living experiment of connected vehicles, transport networks, people's movements and city infrastructure.
"The digital revolution has enabled better connectivity and by understanding real world situations and customer needs, we can take a considerable step towards providing better services and focused innovations," he said.
According to the companies, the first NCMT test bed pilot is scheduled to be launched in April.
Elsewhere in Australia, the New South Wales Government has already announced a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) trial for heavy trucks and traffic lights.
The trial, which involves providing longer green times for heavy vehicles, aims to reduce the delays caused by trucks in high-traffic areas.
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