Sydney reinforces its position as Australia’s automated vehicle mecca

Announcement posted by Leverage PR 28 Feb 2019

The nation’s peak driverless vehicle industry collective says a commitment by the New South Wales Government to host a national Centre of Excellence and a world-leading summit later this year demonstrates a strong commitment that puts the state at the leading edge of innovation and reinforces that it is well and truly open for business.

Under an agreement struck between Transport for NSW and the Australia and New Zealand International Driverless Vehicle Initiative (ADVI), the state will host what is expected to be the biggest automated vehicle exhibition and trade show ever seen in Australia in October 2019.

ADVI Executive Director, Ms Rita Excell, said the strong show of support by the NSW Government and Transport for New South Wales demonstrates their forward-thinking in transport technologies and will go a long way to address Australia’s slippage in automated vehicle readiness rankings recently released.

“ADVI and our partners are very excited about this opportunity to align more closely with the work being undertaken in NSW to ensure the focus moves beyond limited trials and deployments to achieving true commercialisation of this technology as already seen in other parts of the world,” Ms Excell said.

“This new collaboration takes the introduction of automated vehicles onto our roads to the next level and is sure to attract national and global attention.

In October 2019, the world’s focus is expected to turn on Sydney when it hosts the biggest automated vehicle event ever to be held in Australia.

Ms Excell said previous international driverless vehicle summits have attracted all of the world’s leading automated shuttle manufacturers and other industry leaders, and AVDI looks forward to bringing its industry partners to Sydney and inviting them to put their driverless vehicle innovations on display for the world to see.

“Transport for New South Wales has an ambitious and comprehensive program of works in place to best prepare the state for a world where driverless vehicles share the road, and they have ensured that this technology is at the very heart of its long-term transport vision – and ADVI is pleased at the opportunity to be part of that exciting journey,” she said.

“Future Transport 2056 is the first Strategy of its kind focused on harnessing the rapid advancement of driverless technology and innovation across NSW’s transport system to transform the user experience, improve communities, and boost economic performance.”

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About the Australia and New Zealand Driverless Vehicle Initiative (ADVI)

ADVI is the peak body that spans the wide ecosystem of driverless vehicles in Australia and New Zealand. With a membership of more than 120 leading organisations across a wide range of sectors, ADVI offers a unique opportunity for partners to collaborate with Governments, Industry and researchers, to position Australia and New Zealand amongst the world leaders in the development and deployment of driverless technology. ADVI’s education, advocacy and demonstration efforts help to inform and raise awareness, encourage community acceptance, and ensure understanding of the economic, environmental and lifestyle benefits of driverless vehicles.