Cooperative Intelligent Transport Initiative

To help prepare our road network for autonomous vehicles, Transport for NSW ran the Cooperative Intelligent Transport Initiative to test and trial a range of connected automated vehicle technology.

In the trial subject matter experts tested vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication technology called Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS).

C-ITS devices work by sending and receiving information to and from equipped vehicles and infrastructure at 10 times a second.

It uses this information to determine if a conflict is likely, based on comparing its own location, direction, and speed to those of the other vehicles and infrastructure, such as traffic signals, that are fitted with the same system. 

In the trial, Transport for NSW partnered with the CSIRO and the Australian Federal Government to fit C-ITS devices into 60 trucks, 52 light vehicles and 4 roadside units in the Illawarra region.

Watch our video below for additional trial information. 

Research and findings from the trial proved that C-ITS devices are helping improve road safety outcomes through their use information technology to alert drivers of potential hazards, such as intersection collisions, red lights or speed limits.

Trial participants including vehicle drivers and system engineers were generally positive towards the technology and identified that C-ITS technology could make roads safer if: 

  • more vehicles on the network were fitted with the technology
  • additional alerts are added – such as weather events, height alerts and pedestrian alerts
  • accuracy and positioning improvements within technology.

Aside from this, drivers also provided further details on the accuracy and usefulness of the alerts. The project is now complete, and more detailed lessons learnt can be found here.