The Hon Jaala Pulford - travel report - Sweden and UK, 20-31 July 2019

A summary of the travel report for The Hon Jaala Pulford MP.

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Key travel notes

  • Minister: The Hon. Jaala Pulford MP
  • Portfolio Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC, Fishing and Boating
  • Countries visited: Sweden, United Kingdom
  • Date of travel: 20-31 July 2019
  • No. of official travel days (including day of departure and day of return): 11
  • Funding source (list department/s or agency): Department of Transport
  • Air fares (including taxes and fees): $26,826
  • Accommodation (including taxes and fees) $8,300
  • Other expenses (includes surface travel and travel allowances): $5,190
  • Travel cost for minister and staff: $40,316

Purpose of travel

From 20 to 31 July, I travelled with a delegation from Department of Transport, Transport Accident Commission and the Victorian Police. The objectives of the travel to Europe was to explore intelligent transport solutions to optimise the use of the road network and consult with world leaders on road safety matters.

Improved relationships and capability in areas of strategic interest particularly those relating to Road Safety and Traffic management technology.

It is intended these meetings and site visits will inform the development of the future Road Safety Strategy.

Benefits of travel to the State of Victoria

The benefits of this travel are to develop a greater understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing other jurisdictions and these meetings and site visits will inform:

  • future road safety strategies
  • congestion management across Melbourne with a focus on non-infrastructure options
  • development of the follow-up to the Towards Zero 2016-2020 Road Safety Strategy
  • a modern regulatory framework for the mainstream use of autonomous vehicles

This will result in a safer, more efficient road network that can adapt to the introduction of new technology for Victoria.

Stockholm, Sweden

In Stockholm, the focus of the study tour was around Road Safety and technology. Meetings held include:

  • Meeting with Edvard Brinck. Ericsson is a world leader in communications technology and is a partner in a number of Victorian Government supported Road Safety and technology projects.
  • SweRoad – Swedish National Road Consultants. Areas of interest for Victoria include Driver training, examinations and licensing, ITS for Improved Road Safety, Safe Road Infrastructure and Law Enforcement.
  • Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) – meeting with Maria Krafft, Director of Sustainability, Traffic Safety and Dr Lars Ekman.
  • UbiGo – Pioneer in Mobility as a Service, a multimodal mobility subscription providing access to public transport, car rental, car sharing, taxis and bicycles in one app.
  • Ministry of Transport – Focus on Road Safety, Autonomous vehicles. 2020 European Ministerial Road Safety Meeting in February 2020.

London, United Kingdom

In London I met with several organisations to discuss mobility and autonomous vehicles with several site visits to testbed facilities. These include:
  • Zenzic – Meeting with Michael Talbot discussing Connected and Autonomous vehicles.
  • Centre for Connected Vehicles and Autonomous – The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles works across government to support the market for connected and automated vehicles.
  • West Midlands 5G Testbed – the UK’s only national urban testbed. The site focuses on mobility, connected and autonomous vehicles.
  • University of Warwick, Mobility Data Institute - Site visit included the Simulator and the National Automotive Innovation Centre.
  • FIA Foundation - Meeting held with Saul Billingsley, Executive Director. The Foundation first proposed the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, devised and coordinates the Global Fuel Economy Initiative, and has provided the core grant for both the International Road Assessment Programme and the Global New Car Assessment Programme.
  • Towards Zero Foundation is a UK registered charity working internationally for a world free from road fatalities and life changing serious injuries by promoting safe and sustainable mobility. Meeting held with Jessica Truong, Vice President Programmes.
  • Road Safety Support – Meeting held with Trevor Hall, CEO. Discussion held around effective safety enforcement technologies to reduce serious trauma and the specialist services provided by the not-for-profit company.
  • Transport for London – Key briefings: London Streets Traffic Control Centre; Vision Zero for London; Active Transport (Pedestrian & Cycling Strategy).

Next steps/follow-up

The key findings from this study tour will be used in the development of government policy on:

  • Road safety
  • Connected and autonomous vehicles
  • Intelligent traffic management systems
Further work will be developed in these areas over the short and medium term:
  • Accelerating the take up of vehicle safety features in new vehicles
  • Opportunities for reducing vehicle fleet age
  • Speed management policies and programs including community engagement
  • Increasing stakeholder involvement in annual safety outcomes including in the discussion and analysis of fatalities and serious injury outcomes and trends
  • The economic, congestion and road safety benefits of connected autonomous vehicles in the Victorian community
  • What steps Victoria needs to undertake to make it ready for early adoption of more connected and autonomous vehicles including regulatory frameworks
  • The use of transport data to improve road safety and congestion outcomes
  • Opportunities to improve public campaigns on road safety
  • Opportunities to improve worker safety on the road
  • Mobility as a Service opportunities including new micro mobility technologies such as electric scooters
  • Intelligent road traffic systems.

Traffic & transport

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