Australian and U.S. officials have penned a new agreement aimed at strengthening collaboration towards developing intelligent transport systems.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with Australian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Darren Chester last week to sign the agreement.
The Memorandum of Cooperation will enable the two nations to exchange information, data and best practices to support the development of smart cities empowered with new technologies. This will be facilitated by the use of public-private partnerships to support infrastructure development, intelligent transportation systems and unmanned aircraft systems (RPAS).
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Darren Chester, announced that this will enable Australia’s leading vision in intelligent transport and smart cities to become a reality.
“This agreement with the United States will provide a mutually beneficial knowledge base for delivering 21st Century transport infrastructure solutions as technology driven cities and regions become a reality,” Mr Chester said.
“We are already seeing the results of this cooperation. Today we discussed a range of issues, including our use of Public Private Partnerships to deliver major projects, leveraging private sector investment in infrastructure and best practice in project development, as well as the use of intelligent transport systems in congested cities.”
“Australia was also the first country in the world to regulate drones and Secretary Foxx was eager to learn more about how the Australian system works.” – Darren Chester, Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
“Fruitful discussions such as these will pay future dividends for citizens of both countries.”
Mr Chester said there would be ongoing opportunities to meet with international partners in Australia, including in the latter half of this year. In October Melbourne will host the 23rd Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress (ITS World Congress) and Mr Chester sees this as an opportunity for the two nations to capitalise on the new agreement.
“[The ITS World Congress] is the world’s most important forum for discussing technology-based solutions to some of the most challenging infrastructure problems of our times,” he said.
“It will provide an opportunity for us to share our expertise in areas such as smart cities, while also meeting with some of the best infrastructure and transport minds in the world.
