Self-driving cars for Melbourne's CityLink early next year

Victoria's Labor government has announced it will commence what are likely to be Australia's first large-scale public-road trials of autonomous vehicles early next year.

It made the announcement in partnership with Transurban, whose Monash-Citylink-Tullarmine freeway corridor will play host to a range of self-driving cars within months.

The state government said VicRoads will engage with industry to seek feedback on its Future Directions Paper, which outlines the need for regulatory changes to allow testing of highly automated vehicles on public roads.

The consultation will focus on how to ensure road safety during testing on public roads, what constitutes a driver ‘being in control’, and understanding how the changing technology will interact with existing transport systems.

"It will also work to create a framework to allow for a wide range of vehicles to be trialled on Victoria’s roads, potentially including highly automated vehicles, where a driver is not in control of the vehicle," said the government in a statement.

It said the trial will test vehicles currently on the market, to understand how autonomous vehicle technology interacts with road infrastructure including overhead lane signals, electronic speed signs and line marking.

"The Transurban trial will begin with testing automated vehicles that comply with existing road rules and road safety regulations. A human driver will monitor the vehicle’s operation, ready to take back control at any time."

The Victoria government says the trials will build on the knowledge gathered through the testing of the Tesla Model S-based Bosch Highly Automated Driving Vehicle unveiled during the ITS World Congress in October.

It stated that autonomous vehicles have "enormous potential to make our journeys safer and more efficient, and to help the community to travel far more easily, including people with limited mobility, and added that self-driving vehicles will reduce crashes resulting from human error, which account for 90 per cent of all collisions.

Victorian Minister for Roads Luke Donnellan said the introduction of highly-automated vehicles has the potential to help Victoria achieve its Towards Zero vision, which envisions a future free of deaths and serious injuries on the state’s roads.

“We want to work with the automotive and technology industries so Victoria can be at the forefront of automated vehicle technology and create jobs here in Victoria," he said.

“Keeping people safe on our roads is our number one priority and that’s why we’re running these innovative trials in the safest possible way for all road users.

“By removing human error from the equation, autonomous vehicles will play a critical role in reducing deaths and serious injuries on Victorian roads.”

Transurban CEO Scott Charlton said his company needed to be ready for driverless car technology.

“Advances in vehicle technology will rapidly change the way Victorians use the road network," he said.

“Industry experts say we will have fully driverless cars on the market in the next 5 to 10 years and we need to make sure our infrastructure is ready to meet this demand.

“Highly automated vehicles have the potential to significantly boost road safety, relieve congestion and improve social mobility. We are pleased to partner with the Victorian government to look at how these vehicles could one day deliver benefits for local road users.”

The Labor government says its Future Directions Paper consultation will work within the National Transport Commission’s framework to establish nationally consistent guidelines across Australia for automated vehicle trials, which will also inform Victoria’s future policies on automated vehicles.

The consultation process will run from December 15 to February 3, when feedback is being sought on the VicRoads Future Directions Paper.

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