Retter underlines the need to prepare for the future and explore avenues for innovation
The National Transport Commission (NTC) has outlined four scenarios that reveal the transformational impact of factors such as automated vehicles, better real-time data and analytics, more riding sharing and changes in consumer preferences.
Part of its Land Transport Regulation 2040 the scenarios explore four “different but plausible” scenarios of what the transformational changes in Australia’s transport system might mean in practice.
NTC chief executive Paul Retter says both industry and government organisations must prepare for uncertainty in the future and look for new ways to encourage innovation.
“These four scenarios are not predictions of the future, but they help industry, governments and the community examine the implications of changes in automation, data sharing, shared mobility and consumer demand,” Retter says.
“Different sectors of the economy and the regulations that guide them go through long periods of stability followed by short periods of significant change.
“This work will help stakeholders start developing responses to the opportunities and challenges Australia’s transport system is likely to face in the future.
“For us this work will help us develop reform projects to make sure we have the right kinds of transport laws at each stage of this period of transformational change.”
The papers also highlight three key questions for the governments:
- Should governments regulate ahead of the adoption curve?
- Could or should governments transition all transport laws to a safety management system approach? and,
- Does the way our regulations are structured impact on new products and services?
The papers were released to coincide with the ITS World Congress being held in Melbourne this week.
For more details, visit the NTC website.