AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES AND THE NEW RACE
There is no doubt the creation and testing of autonomous vehicles is one of the most thrilling innovations in the world. It is defining cities of the future and how they will provide greater mobility and opportunity for their residents.
Reminiscent of the ‘race to space’ period, nations are keeping a close eye on developments amongst their competitors, according to our Vice President Communications, Marie Scoutas.
“By the looks of work in the United States from companies like Zoox and Tesla, creativity is going hand in hand with the development of the hardware and it’s fascinating to watch their progress,” Ms Scoutas said.
“As engaging as the images of these new cars are and what they mean for our day to day lives, there is another vital phase we can’t be distracted from.
“It is far less shiny and interesting but its about getting our current cities ready and educating our communities about how we can make the old infrastructure and the old systems compatible with the future.
“They can be made compatible in a number of ways, and one of them is with Road Manager.
“You don’t need expensive new sensors to tell you where there is disruption on the network. You can bring road, lane and footpath closures into real time management with our live Google Maps based program.
“For business, capital cities, major events and even small towns Road Manager is the enabler.
“It provides an easy, affordable, quick solution to bring your traffic into your future management system. It’s not just a place to use a map and draw your traffic plan on it, Road Manager enables you to share, change and manage your crew even in the field, mid-job.
“That immediate adaptability and real time information is what gives transport management centres the most possible control over what’s happening remotely and the information they feed those people stuck in the gridlock.
“We know there are traffic management companies all over the United States and we also provide a value add for their business, so they can get on with contracting crews, deploying barrels and programming VMS signage.
“We are an ideal partner. There are other businesses who close lanes such as paving, plumbing and construction companies who think they don’t have the budget or the time to go digital. But their relatively small projects can and do make those daily deliveries, school runs and commutes to work that little bit more stressful at those times of the day when every 10 minutes counts.
“The one comment that has motivated us more than any other was “we don’t have any use for Google Maps”. Our immediate thought was: “just give it time”.
“One of the WORLD’S top 10 apps, Google Maps is so widely used there is a great benefit in seizing on its already widespread integration into how people are already planning their journeys.
“The issue we are noticing as we speak to people around the United States is timing.
“At the current pace it could take us a generation to bring everyone along the journey in time.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WILL BE READY BUT WILL WE?
“We have to bring communities along every step of the way. There are many stages between where we are today and the self-driving cars we imagine our children and grandchildren will find are the norm.
“Bringing planned traffic disruption onto the information grid and off the isolated systems it operates in at present is vital to making cities AV-ready.
“Communities need to be included in the conversation about tangible changes that can happen in the short term, to give them additional confidence we can be ready when the cars are ready.
“The practical shifts we make today, reforms that give communities good real time information about what is happening bring the next stage of mobility even closer.
“It takes good communication and vision from business and political leaders. Otherwise there will be little motivation to bring everyone onto the information grid.
“Cities need to take all those practical and tangible steps to position their communities for the quantum leap we are expecting to take. America’s leading smart cities are creating strong environments for companies like Road Manager to be seen and tested.
“Road Manager will keep having these conversations across America to help ensure all cities get there in time. We’re partnering with training providers also, to help ensure the traffic managers of tomorrow are already thinking about how to future proof their practices.
“Contact us if we can partner with you or help you define where your business can make that jump to cloud based traffic plans,” Ms Scoutas said.
