ITS Australia Members Relaunch Renmark’s Driverless Bus ‘Murray’

This month, the South Australian town of Renmark saw the return of its driverless bus ‘Murray’ to the road as part of a new trial starting on 9 February and ending in June 2021.

Murray will provide a free hop-on and hop-off service at six bus stops along the 2.4km loop from Murray Avenue to the Fourteenth Street shopping precinct.

There will be no need to book a ride in advance, as customers are invited to use the service whenever they want during operating hours, on Tuesdays from 10am to 1pm and Wednesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.

The new route takes in the Renmark riverfront and key locations, including the Renmark Swimming Pool, supermarket, and food outlets, aiming to best service people with limited mobility and visitors to Renmark. Further information on Murray and the route can be found here. Nearly 700 people travelled on Murray during Phase 1 of the trial, and were carried more than 2800km.

The trial is a joint project between the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport, Renmark Paringa Council, Flinders University, autonomous technology provider EasyMile and multi-modal transport operator Keolis Downer, who are excited to bring smart technology to regional South Australia. Keolis Downer has employed five local residents to undertake the role of safety chaperones for the duration of the Phase 2 trial.

Murray was selected as a finalist in the ITS Australia National Awards 2020, receiving a nomination for the Connected and Automated Vehicle Award.

The EZ10 autonomous shuttle is in constant communication with infrastructure, such as traffic lights, sending signals to the shuttle, which then analyses and makes the decision to continue its route or stop.

It is guided by a range of GPS, camera, sensors and odometry with extensive safety processes in place. It is the most-deployed driverless passenger shuttle in the world with its technology having driven autonomous vehicles in 300+ locations in more than 30 countries.

As this technology is being trialed on the road at Renmark, it may stop from time to time and therefore we seek care and patience by other road users in the area.

A key focus of the project is to support those in the community with restricted transport opportunities, and the tourism sector. Services like the one in Renmark are informing us of the reliability, acceptance and operational framework for automated vehicle technologies which may play a role in the future transport mobility mix.

Keolis Downer are currently project partners with two additional driverless bus trials in Australia: one in Raby Bay, Queensland and another in Tonsley, South Australia.

They also come with international expertise, as parent company Keolis operates over 30 driverless vehicle projects worldwide, with operations in Paris, London, Belgium, Montreal, and Las Vegas (just to name a few), moving 140,000+ passengers on driverless vehicles each year.

COVID safety measures

Passengers are required to practice social distancing as far as practical, in line with expert health advice, and sign in prior to entry for contact tracing purposes, either through the COVID SAfe Check-In QR code function of the mySA GOV smartphone app, located at each bus stop along the route, or by providing their details in writing.

If you are feeling ill with flu-like symptoms, please avoid travel on public transport.