The Motor Trades Association of Queensland (MTA Queensland) has recently been working with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to contribute towards an integral part of the Queensland Government’s Cooperative and Automated Vehicle Initiative (CAVI).

The Initiative, which is currently Australia’s largest on-road testing trial of cooperative vehicles and infrastructure, will involve around 500 private and fleet vehicles retrofitted with C-ITS devices that enable vehicles to ‘talk’ to vehicles, infrastructure, road operations systems and cloud based data sharing systems.

The large-scale, 3.5 year project is currently in the design and equipment-testing phase, with the nine-month on-road trial to be staged in Ipswich, Queensland in 2019.

The MTA Queensland is thrilled to be involved in the initial retro-fitting of four vehicles utilising the Sir Jack Brabham Automotive Centre of Excellence at Eight Mile Plains; the headquarters of the largest private provider of automotive training in Queensland, the MTA Institute. The vehicles will be adapted to include vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication and then they will be tested in Ipswich over the coming months.

Marcello Riotto, Operations Manager of Training said, “The MTA Institute advocates the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest technology and training resources to skill the future automotive workforce, so we are a perfect fit to undertake this project.

“We are really excited to be working in these early stages with the Department of Transport and Main Roads in the retro-fitting of these vehicles.

“After the initial fit-out of the four vehicles, the project will expand to the remaining vehicles, which may provide a great opportunity to businesses that are members of MTA Queensland, which is affiliated with the MTA Institute. The cars will then be deployed onto public roads in a trial running from 2019.”

“Over the next decade, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity will enable the development of a smarter and more productive transport system in Australia and worldwide,” he said.

“This will make it safer and easier for people to move around, as well as boost productivity for business and industry.”

“We acknowledge the leading role that the Queensland Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads is playing on this hugely important project, and look forward to seeing how cooperative vehicles can make our roads safer for all users” said Marcello.

14 Jul 2018