Perth to host autonomous trial

WA capital will be one of just three cities in the world selected for testing French autonomous cars and buses

A French company named NAVYA has settled on Perth as one of three cities around the world for testing its driverless cars, named Autonoms.

The trial is scheduled to commence in April next year and will be supported by the WA government and the RAC WA. Currently, both the government and the motorists’ association are assessing various locations that would be suitable for closed-environment testing.

“I am very proud that Western Australia is leading the way with Perth being one of only three cities worldwide trialling these vehicles,” says WA’s minister for transport, Rita Saffioti.

“We will work closely with RAC and NAVYA to ensure the trial is a success, with the safety of the public being of the highest priority,” Ms Saffioti was quoted saying in a press release.

NAVYA has two developed two autonomous vehicles under the name ‘Autonoms’. One is a self-driving taxi (Autonom Cab) and the other is a small bus (Autonom Shuttle). The Autonom Shuttle has been operating in South Perth since August last year, promoted as the RAC Intellibus.

Back in May, when the new agreement was first mooted, the RAC WA was named as the responsible body for evaluating, confirming and mapping the route, and training customers.

“NAVYA is successfully delivering an ambitious program to deploy our smart mobility systems all over the world and securing local technical support for our vehicle fleet with RAC reinforces NAVYA’s strong commitment to provide its customers with the best possible services in a timely fashion,” NAVYA CEO Christophe Sapet was quoted saying at the time.

“The RAC Intellibus trial is aimed at enhancing our experience and understanding of driverless technology,” RAC Group CEO, Terry Agnew was quoted as saying in the same press release.

“We’re continuing our own trials in WA, contributing to a number of national working groups and research initiatives and assisting with the development of policy to help ensure Australia is ready for the inevitable arrival of driverless vehicles.

“The more government, industry and the public learn about and engage with driverless vehicles, the more prepared we will be to transition them on to our roads.”

Perth to host autonomous trial

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