Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs, for short) are designed to help drivers by automatically performing some driving duties – such as keeping inside lanes, adjusting speed and observing speed limits – automatically.
Preparing for a future where cars drive themselves, and access information from the road itself, means thinking about roads, road rules and the wider transport network in new ways. We’ve started preparing for a CAV-driven future by testing how CAVs interpret, interact with and respond to conditions on our roads.
Information about our current autonomous truck trial in Melbourne.
Community attitudes to CAVs
CAV technology is developing rapidly – to the point we’re about to run a new trial that could eventually see two autonomous trucks driving themselves across Melbourne. We’ve investigated community attitudes into ‘driving’ partially automated vehicles and also explored people’s attitudes to travelling inside a vehicle operating in autonomous mode.
Partially automated vehicles
- Participants from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
- Market research conducted in 2018
- Explored community attitudes towards partial automation, and why people may be hesitant to adopt automated driving features.
This research found: 84% of people were very keen to have partial automation features in their next vehicle; 9% were hesitant to change; and 7% per cent were neutral – with no significant differences between gender or age.
Read the report summary.
Highly automated driving
- Twelve participants from Melbourne
- Research conducted in 2017
- Explored how community perceptions change through education and first-hand experience.
Community research participants travelled in a prototype, highly automated Bosch TAC vehicle, at Albert Park Lake, and in a separate event, on CityLink. Participants were interviewed on camera before, during and after their ride in the vehicle, to capture their reactions and feedback. We found perceptions and attitudes shifted with first-had experience of the technology, with participants saying:
- The technology is further along than I realised.
- It’s so new and different – but it feels incredibly normal.
- Feels safer than I thought it would.
- It feels inevitable that it won’t be long before these vehicles are on our roads.
