Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Internal combustion engine vehicles are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and New Zealand. Encouraging the public to utilise low and zero emission vehicles (LZEVs), such as battery electric vehicles will contribute to creating a more sustainable road transport system. As the number of LZEVs is expected to rise, there will be a growing demand for charging infrastructure. Incre...

To enable collaboration and the adoption of best-practice approaches across jurisdictions, Austroads is undertaking a multi-stage project to standardise and automate ways of recording and sharing road asset information. The benefits of standardised collection of road asset data and the availability of a platform to store or exchange data include: direct savings to road agencies through reduced inf...

The proposed National Access Framework for Heavy Vehicles is a principles-based strategic policy document which highlights the role of state and local government road managers in managing heavy vehicles access on the road network. It is also proposed to establish a national Access Working Group to deliver a targeted national Access Work Program based on the Framework's principles. In this session,...

Road agencies are increasingly utilising various business intelligence tools to collect, process and analyse large amounts of asset management data from internal and external systems. Harnessed information is used to maintain road assets and improve the efficiency of their performance. In this webinar data practitioners from the Tasmanian Department of State Growth, Queensland Department of Transp...

Road agencies increasingly recognise the value of coordination and cooperation with public transport operators in responding to road and transport incidents, as it helps support a more holistic and integrated multimodal approach to minimising traveller disruption. Austroads has developed guidance for road-focused agencies to improve their capabilities in the management and resolution of an unplann...

Austroads is encouraging drivers, employers and trainers to have their say on proposed changes to heavy vehicle driver licensing in Australia. The changes are documented in a Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (C-RIS) which seeks feedback on proposed changes to the National Heavy Vehicle Driver Competency Framework. The Framework was endorsed by ministers in 2011 but has only been implemente...

In Australia and New Zealand, bituminous binders used in road construction are tested prior to use to ensure they will perform satisfactorily during road construction/maintenance. Some of the Australian Standards that are used for these tests have not been updated for 25 years which can make it difficult for testing laboratories to adhere to them. In this webinar Dr Robert Urquhart presents an ove...

Road tunnels are an important element of the transport infrastructure, requiring significant resources and energy to construct, operate and maintain. Consequently, they are potentially a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. Practices and methods that promote the sustainability of road tunnels are, therefore, necessary for alleviating the pressure they exert on scar...

Governments, transport agencies, and industry have identified the need to reduce waste going to landfill and increase the use of recycled materials to achieve more sustainable development and improve outcomes for communities. The latest update to the Guide to Pavement Technology Part 4E: Recycled Materials covers the advancement in material re-use that has occurred in the 13 years since the 2009 v...

Austroads has updated the Guide to Road Design Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers (AGRD Part 6) introducing new sections on the fundamentals of safety barrier systems and design advice for other road safety devices. This webinar, presented by Dr Rod Troutbeck and Richard Fanning, focuses on the updated Section 6 providing an overview of the process to design the installation of a safety...

Austroads has updated the Guide to Road Design Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers (AGRD Part 6) introducing new sections on the fundamentals of safety barrier systems and design advice for other road safety devices. This webinar, presented by Dr Rod Troutbeck and Richard Fanning, covers the new structure of AGRD Part 6 and new information included as part of the current guide update focu...

Road users are increasingly recognising the value of data for improved mobility and safety. Austroads Cloud Connected Road User (CCRU) project studied how agencies can support cloud-connected road users through data from portable and fixed in-vehicle devices to assist with trip planning, and warning and advice when travelling. The project examined various CCRU data provision methods and practices...

This webinar, presented by Austroads Temporary Traffic Management Project Manager Chris Koniditsiotis and AITDSA Workstream Manager Gavin Hill, is an overview of the Austroads Innovative Temporary Traffic Management Device and Solution Assessment (AITDSA) scheme (commencing 1 July 2022). AITDSA provides a way for innovative devices and solutions used for temporary traffic management to be assessed...

This webinar introduces Austroads new projects lined up for the 2022-23 financial year. The session is most beneficial to consultants who may be interested in tendering for Austroads projects. Upcoming projects focus on road network resilience, pavement design, movement and place, cycling and micromobility, future freight vehicles, road design, driver licensing, climate change risk assessment, aut...

Austroads Project APT6305 Use of Road-grade Recycled Plastics for Sustainable Asphalt Pavements is investigating the use of recycled plastics in asphalt. The project is almost completed with results to date provided in three published reports. The first report examined the use of road-grade recycled plastics in asphalt pavements and investigated the most suitable types of recycled plastics for inc...

Two parts of the Austroads Guide to Project Delivery – Part 2: Planning and Control and Part 3: Contract Management – have been reviewed and updated to assist road-based infrastructure delivery units of transport agencies to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in the project delivery stage. In this webinar Colin MacKay, Nigel Powers and Karen Cogo present the updated guides which focus on new in...

Road tunnels are major pieces of infrastructure across the road network, and the number of tunnels is expected to increase in the coming years. Although they are relatively safe, a significant number of crashes occur on the approaches to and within tunnels. Austroads commissioned the University of New South Wales, Research Centre for Integrated Transport Innovation (rCITI) to investigate and evalu...

Austroads has published a report proposing a set of symbols for low and zero emission vehicles (LZEVs) and associated charging or refuelling infrastructure to be used on road signs and for road marking in Australia and New Zealand. The proposal forms a basis for testing and standardisation of the symbols (according to the Australian Standards) and their adoption in the Australian Road Rules and si...

Physical road infrastructure such as pavement markings and signals may have an important role to play to support the uptake of automated vehicles (AVs). Austroads has recently completed a project to provide road agencies with clear advice on investing in physical infrastructure to support the operation of AVs. This webinar, presented by Andrew Somers, Simon Xue and Elnaz Irannezhad, provides a det...

This webinar, presented by Dr Negin Zhalehjoo, Andrew Papacostas and Dr Didier Bodin, focuses on the outcomes of an Austroads research project “Laboratory Fatigue Characterisation of Foamed Bitumen Stabilised (FBS) Materials”. The objective of this project was to develop a laboratory fatigue relationship to predict the performance of FBS materials to be used for future pavement design of FBS mater...

This webinar, presented by Dr James Grenfell and Dr Didier Bodin, focuses on the development of a specification on the supply of recycled crushed glass sand as part of a project to support increased use of recycled crushed glass (RCG) in road infrastructure. The project covers the use of RCG as a backfill and bedding sand, and within drainage, embankment fill, landscaping, and low risk concrete ap...

The National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy sets the agenda for coordinated and well-planned government and industry action to 2040 and beyond, with a national vision for freight systems and supply chains to contribute to a strong and prosperous Australia. The Strategy commits to action in four key areas: Smarter and targeted infrastructure, Enable improved supply chain efficiency, Better plann...

Launched in 2011, the National Cycling Participation Survey (NCPS) has been run every two years. Its original aim was to establish a baseline and measure performance against the National Cycling Strategy 2011-2016. Until 2019 the NCPS was managed by Austroads, to maintain a continuous dataset. In 2021, Cycling and Walking Australia and New Zealand (CWANZ) took over the coordination of the survey,...

Guide to Road Design is Austroads’ most downloaded publication with more than 155,000 copies accessed in the last 18 months. A recent project looked at whether improvements could be made based on recently released Austroads research. That review identified possible inclusions relating to improvements to practice focusing on Safe System, the vulnerability of motorcycles and specific heavy vehicle r...

This webinar presents the new Austroads Guide to Road Safety Part 6: Road Safety Audit. Key topics covered in the webinar include: Strengthening the requirements within the Guide as the default for Australia and New Zealand and formal exemption protocol for jurisdictions. Identifying the roles, responsibilities and conduct required of all stakeholders to achieve optimum value from the process, esp...