The path that leads to export success can start in the most unlikely places. In the case of Brisbane-based transport technology specialists, Vigil Systems, it was alarm in newspaper headlines about the lack of skills among young drivers on Australia's roads. By a roundabout route, it led the firm's founders, Ian Haynes and Bob Gibson, to develop Vigil's Intelligent Transport System (ITS), VigilVanguard, designed to train all types of professional drivers, including bus, taxi, fleet and mine-site drivers, during on-road training sessions.

At its core, ITS is a cost-effective alternative to driver simulator technologies which delivers unbiased reports of drivers' skills. It is proving a winner with many of the biggest publicly listed passenger land transport companies in the world-like Singapore's ComfortDelgro, which has a fleet of 35,000 vehicles, Hong Kong's Kowloon Motor Bus, the Toronto Transit Commission, and the Washington Metro.

Vigil Systems' success in the extremely competitive US market recently saw it win one of the top two awards in Deloitte's American 'Rising Star' honours.

One highly satisfied customer, Mark Anderson of the Los Angeles Metro system, says transit authorities throughout the US are adopting the company's VigilVanguard system. The company had taken its innovations a step further by introducing a complementary driver risk management system called VigilManager, which collates, stores and manages information on individual bus operator performance to predict and  prevent accidents. "Interest among transit authorities in the US is already strong with Los Angeles Metro, the second-largest US transit authority, now using VigilManager," he says.

Vigil says its 'behind-the-wheel' driver training tools are now the most popular risk management systems among Californian transit authorities, and Vigil Systems believes the ITS program has the potential to become the standard for driver training systems all over the world.