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Over the years we’ve always looked for ways to make our transport network better.

When our roads started getting busier, we built traffic lights.

And then when our cars started getting faster, we built highways.

Now we’re looking at exciting new ways to make our roads safer and smarter than ever.

The Cooperative and Automated Vehicles Initiative or CAVI for short, is a new project being led by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.

It’s going to bring some of the latest in cooperative, and automated vehicle technologies to our own backyard.

By sharing information between vehicles and infrastructure, we can warn drivers about upcoming hazards, reduce congestion, and even make our transport network greener.

This will be achieved through Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems, or C-ITS.

In 2019 we’ll see Australia’s largest on-road testing trial of C-ITS technologies.

Around 500 public and fleet participants will take to the roads of Ipswich, and trial some of these new technologies first hand.

CAVI will also be testing a small number of autonomous vehicles, along with looking at how new technology applications can keep motorcyclists, bicycle riders and pedestrians safer.

CAVI is one of many ways we’re helping make Queensland’s transport infrastructure more productive, and ready for the exciting times ahead.

Importantly, it will also put us one step closer to achieving our goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

To find out more visit qld.gov.au/cavi.

Now you know a bit more about the Cooperative and Automated Vehicles Initiative, let’s have a look at the technologies involved.

Intelligent Transport Systems are all the things that help us observe and asses what is happening on our roads, building a picture of real-time traffic situations.

This information means we can respond to the traffic situation in a number of ways such as providing warning messages to drivers via variable message signs, reducing variable speed limits and updating available traveller information.

While we already have a number of ITS applications in use, the latest breakthrough comes from using these systems cooperatively, to bring the information directly to the user.

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems enable safe, interoperable, wireless networked communication, which means that vehicles, infrastructure, personal mobile devices and transport management systems can now share information about the road.

This means a driver can receive warnings of a potential hazard, through a visual display, seat vibration or audible tone. These warnings could include information about upcoming roadworks, or a change in variable speed limit via vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.

And can also receive vehicle-to-vehicle warnings about the behaviour of other drivers, like another vehicle braking heavily ahead.

Cooperative vehicles provide drivers with 360 degree awareness of similarly equipped vehicles and infrastructure. The warning and information messages are communicated via 3G/4G, WiFi or 5.9GHz radio frequency.

It’s these technologies that will be trialled in the C-ITS Pilot program in Ipswich Queensland. CAVI will also help Queensland and TMR get ready for vehicles that drive for themselves.

These autonomous vehicle technologies can be as simple as hill start assistance, all the way to artificial intelligence capable of responding to changing driving environments.

Although we can’t guarantee when these vehicles will be available to buy, we do need to know how they will work, and how they will interact with other road users, on our roads.

So vehicles with autonomous capabilities will be tested on both government and council-controlled roads.

Our next generation of vehicles will feature increased levels of connectivity and automated driving.

By embracing these new technologies we’ll be able to reduce congestion, make our roads more efficient and reduce fuel consumption.

And most importantly, we’ll be improving road safety for all Queenslanders.

To find out more visit qld.gov.au/cavi.