Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) have the potential, without question, to be the greatest revolutionary change to transportation in more than a century. The promise of CAV technology, and the scope and scale of the changes that lie ahead of us, are both exhilarating and daunting.
The safe and successful deployment of CAV technology in our cities, across the nation, and around the world necessitates thoughtful planning, much foresight, and rigorous discussion.
That discussion will be had at the 7th Australian ITS Summit 2019, where leaders from the Australian and International ITS industries will converge on Melbourne for two days this August.
Kirk T. Steudle will be the keynote speaker at the Summit. Mr Steudle is a former Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), overseeing a more than $4.7 billion budget, and responsible for the construction, maintenance, and operation of nearly 10,000 miles of Michigan’s highways and more than 4,000 highway bridges at a department with 2,700 employees.
Mr Steudle is now Senior Vice President of Econolite, responsible for leading the company’s Transportation Systems Group, including its subsidiary CAVita.
Mr Steudle will speak about how communities today face the challenge of balancing current maintenance needs and operations whilst preparing for a future of unknown changes to mobility, technology, and integration.
According to him, public policy must start to evolve to ensure technology evolves in concert with the vision and core values of the communities those developments are intended to serve. Regulation should be carefully considered to not stifle creativity but also protect the public overarching interests.
“The fusing of technology into our daily lives show no signs of slowing down. Integration of technology into the transport network is needed for greater economic efficiency and expansion,” Mr Steudle said.
Also speaking at the Summit is András Csepinszky, Director of Advanced Automotive Technology at global automotive software supplier NNG, where he leads the Vehicle Localisation Working Group.
Mr Csepinszky is also the chair of the Traveller Information Services Association’s Content and Services Committee and the Business Analysis Working Group and Steering Committee member of Navigation Data Standard Association. He is actively contributing to different other standardization organisations such as ISO TC204, CEN TC278, SENSORIS, ADASIS, SAE ORAD.
Mr Csepinszky will speak about how Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility (CCAM) became a globally disruptive industry trend over the last several years, with global, regional and national projects launched.
In Hungary, several initiatives were launched such as the Research Center for Autonomous Road Vehicles (RECAR), the ZalaZONE proving ground, and the extension of the Dutch-German-Austrian cooperative ITS corridor.
These initiatives also incorporated research activities focusing on mobility relevant AI, Highly Autonomous Driving (HAD) maps, and simulations.
“Development of reliable and up-to-date HAD maps is a real challenge. It is important to understand how the Australian stakeholders think about solving this issue,” Mr Csepinszky said.
“ITS is a key element towards the development of a sustainable, technologically developed society. I would like to share the way we are doing on a smaller scale and I would like to discover how industry stakeholders and public authorities plan to do so in Australia.”
ITS Australia supports the advancement of CAV technology and sees the appropriate deployment of that technology as a pathway to provide safer, more efficient, and more sustainable transport.
Safety needs to be the foundation on which any development of CAV technology rests. ITS Australia is optimistic about the innovation and expertise in our industry and the functionality that will be available to the wider community.
This partner content is brought to you by ITS Australia. The 7th Australia ITS Summit 2019 will be held from 28–29 August 2019 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
