Push for driverless buses for CBD

COMPLETELY driverless buses could very soon be travelling the streets of Parramatta, picking up passengers, dropping them wherever they want to go and freeing up the CBD’s congested roads.

Australia’s first driverless shuttle bus was trialled along the foreshore in South Perth.

COMPLETELY driverless buses could very soon be travelling the streets of Parramatta, picking up passengers, dropping them wherever they want to go and in the process freeing up the CBD’s congested roads.

With trials of the eight-person shuttle buses gathering speed at Olympic Park, Parramatta state Liberal MP Geoff Lee and Sydney Business Chamber western director David Borger are calling for the buses to arrive in Parramatta as soon as possible.

Mr Lee said he believed Parramatta was ideal as the first place in NSW to have the buses operational, not least because the city was increasingly seen as an example of cutting-edge technology.

David Borger has called for driverless buses to be introduced on Parramatta roads.

“I think the buses are a perfect fit with the sharing economy we’re seeing growing in Parramatta, from Airbnb to Uber, it’s all happening here. We need to be agile in everything we do and there’s nothing much more agile than a driverless bus,” Mr Lee said.

Mr Borger said the idea “can’t come soon enough”.

“We really need to embrace this. It’s very supportable in Parramatta because it would have the advantage that they can help at least partly solve the congestion problem in the CBD.

“A lot of people drive a short distance and that could just be avoided.”

Earlier this month the State Government launched a two-year trial of autonomous vehicles at Sydney Olympic Park.

Sydney Olympic Park is the site of the first trial of a driverless bus in NSW.

The first stage of the trial involves tests and safety checks of the shuttle bus in an off-road environment at Newington Armoury near the former Olympic village. The vehicle will run autonomously on a pre-programmed route.

The trial will be extended next year to roads at Sydney Olympic Park where office workers and other members of the public will get a chance to ride the driverless vehicle.

Roads Minister Melinda Pavey said the government wanted to use the trial to develop systems that would allow automated vehicles to be connected to traffic lights and other transport infrastructure, and to the public through devices and applications.

“There is still some way to go before automated shuttles become common place on Australian roads, but as a government we are ready to take the next step and from here all sorts of possibilities open up for transport in NSW,” she said.

Driverless bus trials started in Perth last year, with the vehicle travelling down a pre-programmed route along the Western Australian capital’s foreshore.