Engineers Australia : Melbourne launches an ambitious connected transport project

A 1.2 square km area of Melbourne will be fitted with thousands of sensors to create a connected transport living lab as part of an ambitious project that will hopefully prevent traffic jams and crashes, and cut travel times and carbon emissions.

The project, being led by the University of Melbourne School of Engineering, involves 17 private and public sector project partners.

The Dean of the Melbourne School of Engineering, Professor Iven Mareels, said this would pave the way for connected and autonomous vehicles.

'The whole world is talking about driverless vehicles and climate change, energy conservation and reducing pollution,' he said.

'These are issues faced not just by Melbourne as it seeks to retain the quality of life that has made it the world's most liveable city for many years, but by thousands of cities around the world that desperately need to accommodate expanding populations, economic activity and community expectations.'

The test area covers parts of Carlton, Fitzroy and Collingwood, including 7km of roadways, and is bounded by Alexandra Parade to the north, Victoria Street to the south, Hoddle Street to the East and Lygon Street to the west.

Project leader Majid Sarvi, Professor in Transport for Smart Cities, said connecting smart sensors with smart devices opens up a whole world of connectivity.

'Intelligent transport systems will analyse this data and deliver insights into traffic planning, pedestrian flows, public transport efficiency and freight movements.

'The research tells us that connected transport could in time reduce the economic impact of road crashes by 90 percent, not to mention the devastating human impact.'

The University's project partners are: VicRoads, Public Transport Victoria (PTV), Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, the City of Melbourne, the City of Yarra, ITS Australia, CUBIC, PTV-AG, HERE Maps, Siemens, Ericsson, Telstra, nbn, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, HMI Technologies, Transdev Melbourne, ConnectEast and Mobility as a Service Australia.