Victoria's first Autonobus trial a huge success

Victoria's first autonomous shuttle bus trial has come to a successful completion.

The trial took place at La Trobe University's Bundoora campus between the months of April through to July.

The Autonobus passed every test it went through, including safety, technical, operational, and passenger testing on a pre-programmed route, and interacting with pedestrians, cars, buses, and cyclists, according to Dean Zabrieszach, CEO of project partner HMI Technologies.

"No other trial in Australia has tested an autonomous vehicle of this type in such a dense urban location," Zabrieszach said. "We have demonstrated that it can be done safely, without incident, and in compliance with road safety laws."

Zabrieszach added that the Autonobus is now ready for deployment in other similar environments with high activity but with a "controlled set of circumstances".

“Autonobus trials across Australia have proven very useful in demonstrating international technology and its applicability to the Australian slow speed environment first mile: last mile journeys," ARRB CEO, Michael Caltabiano, said. "At ARRB we are looking to the next stage of Connected and Autonomous development with the roll-out of test beds both on road and off road to develop the future technology platforms for use by industry, academia and government.”

You can read more about the trial here.

Autonobus is a collaboration between ARRB - your National Transport Research Organisation, founding partner Keolis Downer, HMI Technologies, VicRoads, RACV and La Trobe University.

Keolis Downer have now released a report outlining key findings and recommendations to support the implementation of autonomous vehicles across Australia.

You can download the report here.