The first passengers have ridden on the NSW Driverless Shuttle at Sydney Olympic Park this week, ahead of services starting in the coming weeks.

A select group of competition winners from the 2018 Easter Show boarded the vehicle on Olympic Boulevard, opening stage two of the state’s first driverless shuttle trial.

In August 2017 the NSW Government, through the Smart Innovation Centre, joined forces with HMI Technologies, NRMA, Telstra, IAG, Sydney Olympic Park Authority, and now the University of Technology Sydney, to conduct a two-year trial of the state’s first highly automated Shuttle.

The Navya shuttle is considered a level four, highly autonomous vehicle designed to carry up to 12 passengers. It can travel up to 40km/h in autonomous mode with features including front and rear cameras, LIDAR, GPS technology and autonomous emergency brakes.

The shuttle will continue to operate on Olympic Boulevard, with members of the public able to book limited free rides over the coming weeks. Transport for NSW will release these dates on the Smart Innovation Centre and trial partner websites with bookings to be available two days a week, before the trial progresses to stage three in early 2019.

Stage three of the Shuttle trial will focus on servicing parts of the Sydney Olympic Park precinct by testing a variety of uses including transporting office workers, residents and other precinct workers.

This trial is part of a growing portfolio of connected and automated vehicle trials in NSW that are exploring how the technology will improve both the safety and mobility of customers in metropolitan and regional NSW. 

The NSW Government also recently announced two regional automated vehicles trials in Coffs Harbour and Armidale as well as a trial of partially automated vehicle technology on the Sydney Orbital network.

Source: https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/media-releases/all-aboard-first-driverless-shuttle