City of Newcastle is seeking proposals from qualified operators to trial an autonomous public transport vehicle that can operate safely in city traffic. A small 12-person shuttle will operate around the city’s beaches and harbour front, cementing Newcastle as a leader in testing emerging technologies.

Our vision is to be a smart, liveable and sustainable global city and this project is yet another opportunity to showcase Newcastle’s smart city initiatives to a national and international audience.

Driverless car and bus technologies are at the cutting-edge of transport. This trial will help build our understanding of how the vehicles can fit into traffic-dominated cities and connect with existing transport networks.

We're partnering with a consortium of technology businesses to provide an integrated network for transport, energy and digital infrastructure to transform our city into a living lab.

The trial will go through a safety testing phase before people can ride the shuttle free of charge.

We aim to demonstrate that driverless vehicles are suitable for use in urban environments, test that our smart city infrastructure can support autonomous vehicle operation, and assist in the development of government regulations to facilitate the use of this technology in urban traffic.