The five-year Flinders Unversity trial is the first time autonomous buses have operated on public roads in South Australia.
Dubbed the Flinders Express (FLEX), the vehicle will initially provide "first mile–last mile" shuttle services between the nearby Clovelly Park Train Station and Tonsley’s Main Assembly Building, then connections to bus stops on the major South Road artery and businesses within the Tonsley precinct.
A former Mitsubishi car manufacturing site in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, the Tonsley Innovation District has been transformed into Australia’s first innovation precinct and has quickly become a hub for advanced manufacturing and other future-facing industries.
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The project last year received $1 million from the South Australian Government’s $10 million Future Mobility Lab Fund, and is also funded by industry partners.
Within a year, the shuttle will run to the nearby Flinders Medical Centre and the university’s Bedford Park campus before using main arterial roads around the entire Bedford Park precinct.
Workers, students or visitors travelling to Tonsley by traditional bus or train can can book a ride online at the Flinders University website.
Flinders University head of Civil Engineering, Professor Rocco Zito, said demonstrations and trials of driverless vehicles that involved the community were a good way of building acceptance of the new technology.
“Our aim is not to prove the technology but rather expose the public to this new type of transport service and learn from their responses and reactions to help driverless vehicles gain general acceptance,” he said.
“In order for driverless vehicles to become an integral part of our transport system we need to trial these vehicles in real operating conditions and encourage public participation and feedback.
“It’s not a question of if this technology will be on roads, but when.”
The three-stage, $4 million driverless shuttle project is a partnership between Flinders University, the RAA, Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure and industry supporters – Cohda Wireless, Renewal SA, SAGE Automation, Telstra, UPG, ZenEnergy and public transport operator Keolis Downer.
The vehicle will be docked within a six-bay solar recharge garage soon to be built near the Mitsubishi Administration building, which will also be available to the public who want to recharge their electric vehicles.
South Australia has had previous involvement with autonomous car research and in 2015 held the first driverless car trials in the Southern Hemisphere.
And the state hosts a number of autonomous car companies, including Cohda Wireless and its V2X (Vehicle to everything) technology and RDM Group, which opened its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Adelaide last year.
