Australia's National Transport Commission (NTC) is reviewing the use of telematics for regulatory purposes across the transport sector in order to find ways to encourage further take-up and hopefully realise some of the safety and productivity benefits it promises.
Telematics allows vehicles to communicate with other vehicles and the wider world. It is one of the tools autonomous cars will use to share information but its use isn't restricted to that area.
NTC Chief Executive Paul Retter said that the Transport and Infrastructure Senior Officials’ Committee (TISOC) has directed the NTC to consult with transport operators, telematics service providers, road agencies, and government certification agencies to help identify opportunities to more effectively harness the benefits of emerging technology solutions.
“Telematics can boost productivity and safety by making it easier to share more accurate data between vehicles, drivers, operators and third parties,” he said.
“We are already seeing telematics technology being used by operators for commercial and internal compliance purposes in the freight sector."
However, while telematics technology is being used for regulatory purposes, such as allowing vehicles with higher mass limits to gain additional network access, Retter said the level of uptake is not as strong as it could be.
“This review will help us to better understand why this is and how we may be able to improve uptake using current systems at a minimum cost to operators,” he said.
The focus of the review will be on telematics regulated by the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL), including the Intelligent Access Program and the Electronic Work Diary, in addition to telematics used for regulatory purposes in taxis, buses and alcohol interlocks. A report will be provided to TISOC in March 2018.
[A road train in central Australia. Photo: Pixabay]