First driverless ‘smart shuttle’ bus takes passengers at Sydney Olympic Park
THE first driverless in NSW has started transporting passengers around the Sydney Olympic Park precinct.
Inner West
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WHAT moves on four wheels, can carry up to 12 people, but has no driver, steering wheel or brakes?
The answer can now be found at Sydney Olympic Park where the state’s first driverless bus has started transporting passengers around the local precinct.
About the size of an old milk van, the “smart shuttle” is electric and self-guiding, has the capacity to carry 12 passengers and can travel up to 40km/h.
Evan Walker, director of Transport for NSW’s Smart Innovation Centre, said the first passengers boarded the bus after more than 12 months of trials in an off-road environment at Newington Armory.
Describing the bus as a “robot on wheels”, he said safety technology included front and rear cameras, laser, sensors, emergency breaks and GPS technology.
“The GPS allows us to enter a route for it to follow and if things get in its way it automatically knows to stop and avoid them,” he said.
“The feedback we’ve had so far from passengers is that they didn’t find it as confronting as they may have thought.
“It’s electric, it’s quiet, and it’s not super high speed. One of the comments we had was it was like being on a gondola”
While other cities such as Stockholm have rolled out similar technology on to major transport routes, Mr Evans said Sydney still had a long way to go before commuters would catch a bus of its kind travelling down Parramatta Rd.
“Over the next five to 10 years I think we’ll start to see this technology come along a lot stronger,” he said. “At the moment it offers an opportunity to provide first and last mile solutions for passengers to connect people to public transport.”
Mr Walker said the main benefit of the shuttles was the potential to negate the need for more vehicles in Sydney’s busiest areas, which in turn would reduce driver error.
The next steps will include phasing the technology to traffic lights.
The shuttle is currently operated two days per week on Olympic Boulevard.
To take a trip: www.transport.nsw.gov.au/smart-innovation-centrex
FAST FACTS
The trial is part of a growing number of automated vehicle trials in NSW that are exploring how the technology will improve the safety and mobility of customers.
The State Government has also announced two regional automated vehicles trials in Coffs Harbour and Armidale as well as a trial of partially automated vehicle technology on the Sydney Orbital network.