The South Australian Government has announced a $10 million Future Mobility Lab Fund to boost local testing, research and development of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.
"Connected and autonomous vehicles have enormous potential to save lives, reduce congestion and help people get around our community with more freedom," said Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan.
"This technology can add to the improvements we are making to our roads with the South Road upgrades, increased road maintenance spending and Operation Moving Traffic measures to improve traffic flow."
The Government is inviting companies, industry bodies, research institutions and other organisations to submit creative proposals which will accelerate the development and implementation of connected and autonomous vehicle technology
The proposals will focus on three themes: autonomous vehicle testing and demonstrations; connected vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure pilots and demonstrations; and research and development
Mullighan said South Australia was leading the nation in embracing autonomous vehicle technology, having introduced Australia's first legislation to allow for on-road trials of autonomous vehicles, staged the first on-road trials in the Southern Hemisphere, and hosted the first international driverless car conference in Australia.
"This investment is aimed to grow jobs in this new part of the car industry," he said.
"Our state is already home to world-leading companies such as Cohda Wireless, SAGE Automation and Sydac and we want to provide opportunities to further grow and keep building on these impressive success stories."
He expects the industry to be worth $90 billion globally in less than 15 years.
The government wants proposals which will open up new opportunities for South Australian businesses and workers so all projects must take place in South Australia. Overseas-based partners are encouraged to participate by partnering with local South Australian small to medium enterprises, universities and other organisations.
Further information is available at the Future Mobility Lab Fund’s website including eligibility and assessment guidelines.
[The first Australian trial of driverless cars trial in Adelaide last year. Photo: SA Government]
Transport/Infrastructure will be a major topic of discussion at the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 in Brisbane on November 23-25.