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From a control centre in Sydney, pilots sitting in front of screens can now fly drones more than 50 kilometres away, putting an eye in the sky over traffic snarls and motorway emergencies.
“From time of notification of an incident, we can have a drone in the air within 90 seconds,” Transport for NSW field operations director Rob Austin explained.
“The range you can see is just incredible compared to a single CCTV, which may only give you a couple of hundred metres.”
Remote pilot Daniel Scandar flies a drone at Mount White on the Central Coast from a transport centre at Auburn in Sydney on Tuesday.Credit: Steven Siewert
As part of the rollout of new technology, drones will emerge from boxes bolted to spots near the M1 motorway at Mooney Mooney on the Central Coast and the Hume Highway at Narellan in Sydney’s south-west.
Piloting them from control centres at Eveleigh or Auburn is a major change from having to keep drones within the pilots’ line of sight on the side of motorways due to aviation regulations.
While NSW’s transport agency will continue to operate drones that way, approval from the nation’s air safety regulator for “beyond visual line-of-sight operations” alongside and across highways will enable authorities to rapidly respond to crashes and other incidents.
Other operators require a 30-metre distance between their drones and the closest people, while keeping them within visual line of sight.
A drone emerges from its box.Credit: Transport for NSW
Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said the “drone-in-a-box technology” was a smarter and safer way to bust congestion on some of the state’s busiest roads after crashes or other incidents.
“We’re rolling out these drone-in-a-box units across key routes in Sydney, and we’re exploring opportunities for more drone-in-a-box units in key regional corridors,” she said.
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“Drones are already helping us guide emergency responders through traffic to reach those who need help, set up detours and get an overview of the situation.”
Each of the drones will be able to fly about eight kilometres from its box as part of its “geo-fenced boundary”, thereby covering 16 kilometres of highway. They can be charged in about 30 minutes once in their boxes, allowing them to be turned around quickly for their next aerial mission.
The drones will often provide control centres with a better view of what is happening on the highways than CCTV cameras. Part of the M1 on the Central Coast where the drones will first be located is a blackspot for CCTV because of power and communications challenges.
It took Transport for NSW about two years to gain approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to use remotely piloted drones across and beside highways. They are equipped with extra fail-safe measures, approved flight areas and onboard diagnostics.
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Austin said as well as responding more quickly to incidents, pilots would be able to conduct reconnaissance flights each morning to check for broken-down cars or debris which could end up disrupting traffic during the commuter peak if not attended to.
“Remote aviation becomes a really fantastic tool in our tool chest to manage the network. This drone tech isn’t something that will just be useful in the Greater Sydney area,” he said.
Live streams from drones will provide critical real-time situational awareness to authorities, providing information to commanders before they arrive at a crash, and fast-tracking the release of details to drivers through variable message signs and apps such as Live Traffic.
Transport for NSW has a fleet of about 80 drones with five pilots based in its transport management centre at Eveleigh, and 100 accredited pilots across NSW. In the past year, drones have responded to about 150 incidents, more than 120 of which involved full lane closures.
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