Future Mobility Lab

The Future Mobility Lab is in charge of multiple initiatives of which five are active trials. These projects include first/last mile services from train stations to university campus/business parks, intra business park services, a shuttle link from car park to hospital, a shuttle link from a tram terminus through a high-traffic shared use zone, and regional shuttle services connecting age care facilities, community facilities and regional bus services. Two modified passenger cars with autonomous driving and V2X (vehicle to everything) systems are also being tested to gather feedback on connectivity and V2X systems.

Generally, the vehicles of the pilots have been operated on a closed circuit, they have interacted with mixed traffic on private estates, mixed traffic on public streets and shared paths for bicycles and pedestrians. The stops are station-based and the shuttles follow fixed routes, arrive on a frequency basis and are wheelchair accessible.

Future Mobility Lab is conducting trials to gain a better understanding of the risks and opportunities for autonomous vehicles. They believe AVs may contribute to creating a more efficient and people-centric public transport system while improving mobility options and safety.
The objective of these pilots is to inform the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) on how to best introduce AV platforms into the public transport system.

The total budget is around $20m AUD, of which $10,000,000 AUD was funded by the government. The rest of the funds was acquired through partner funding.

Through an amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act, South Australia is the first jurisdiction in the country to establish a regulatory framework to provide exemptions to conduct trials of AVs on road.

Some of the challenges faced so far are obtaining import approval and insurance as well as dealing with the community resistance on the shared path trial. Some of the technical issues have included problems with GPS, network connectivity and reliability of lidars (dust and reflection from water have especially caused issues).

Flinders University has been involved in the trials by doing survey work around the community acceptance of the AVs and their willingness to pay for such a service.