RoadWatch: Roundup

February 2019

Welcome to Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for February. This is our monthly newsletter which includes links to our latest reports, webinars and Guide updates.

How well can automated vehicles read pavement markings?

Austroads has recently completed trials in Melbourne and Albury/Wodonga to test the how well automated vehicle systems interact with different pavement line markings.

The trials are part of an Austroads study which is seeking to better understand how critical vehicle safety functions, such as machine vision, interpret physical infrastructure. Machine vision systems are the primary perception input into automated steering functions such as lane support systems and lane centering systems.

Around half of all road fatalities in Australia are the result of carriageway departure crashes. This is currently primarily being addressed through physical infrastructure such as safety barriers. However, the design, maintenance and operation of roads that can optimise automated steering functions are expected to provide safety benefits as more vehicles are equipped with support systems.

ANCAP’s vehicle safety rating system makes it challenging for vehicle manufacturers to achieve a 5 star rating without a lane support system. As a result around 30 per cent of new cars sold are fitted with lane support systems and by 2025, we expect 4 million Australian vehicles will be fitted with these systems.

With the primary goal to reduce road trauma, the project outcomes will help road agencies to optimise road design, maintenance and operation for automated vehicles.

The testing was led by WSP and included RACV and Ford Motor Company Australia. An advanced Mobileye Software Developer Kit was used to collect real-time data about performance of different pavement markings.

The project will seek to identify specific issues with current lane marking and lane design guidelines, generate data and findings on those topics, and recommend changed practices with the on-road deployment of pavement markings and lane design specifically for machine vision systems. The project is due to be completed in the end of 2019.

Feedback now open on Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management Part 7: Field Staff – Implementation and Operation

Austroads has released Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management Part 7: Field Staff – Implementation and Operation, for industry consultation.

Austroads' Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management is being developed as part of the strategic priority project Safety at Road Worksites (Project BN2019). The intent of Austroads member authorities is establish the nationally preferred and harmonised approach for undertaking temporary traffic management for works on roads.

The CoPTTM will be an eleven-part series that steps traffic control professionals through all of the processes, procedures and technical information required to develop, write, implement and manage traffic management requirements for work sites.

The new Code will, once completed, provide comprehensive national guidance for all practitioners operating in Temporary Traffic Management.

Online barrier systems portal launched

Austroads Safety Barrier Assessment Panel assesses the crashworthiness and suitability of road safety barriers, systems and devices for deployment on roads managed by Australian and New Zealand Road Agencies.

This week a new online application system was launched, streamlining the application process for industry and the assessment process for panel members.

The panel is due to meet at the end of February and for the first time will review applications made through the new system. Proponents have been making applications via the online portal since January.

In 2018 Australia adopted a new barrier crash testing standard, MASH2016. A significant increase in submissions is expected from early 2019 when manufacturers retest their products and submit documents for approval under the new standards.

The portal is an exciting step in Austroads' digitisation process which is seeking to opportunities to improve processes with online tools.

Long-term pavement performance study finalised

Austroads has released the final report of the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) study which was established in 1994-95.

This long-running project monitored the structural and functional performance of a range of in-service sealed granular, asphalt and concrete pavements.

LTPP monitoring helps with understanding pavement behaviour under different traffic loading and environmental conditions. Prediction of pavement performance under various conditions is a critical element in managing high-cost pavement assets in terms of the potential cost savings on maintenance and rehabilitation activities.

The primary objectives of the study were to

enhance road asset management strategies by using improved pavement performance models
compare the performance of a range of Australian pavement sections with sections in the United States that had been established under the Strategic Highway Research Program Long Term Pavement Performance (SHRP-LTPP) Program
compare the performance of accelerated loading facility (ALF) test pavements with actual road pavement performance
investigate the quantitative influence that various maintenance surface treatments had on long-term pavement performance, as determined by the long-term pavement performance maintenance (LTPPM) portion of the study.

Third edition of Austroads’ Data Standard includes revised priority harmonisation subsets and metrics

Following stakeholder feedback, Austroads has published the third version of the Data Standard for Road Management and Investment with revised priority harmonisation subsets and metrics.

The Austroads Road Data Standard Project was initiated in response to requests from stakeholders who increasingly need to share data with other road agencies but are frustrated by the lack of common data definitions and formats.

The Data Standard will harmonise the data collected and used by road asset managers from planning to asset disposal and reporting.

The prevalence of technology present within mobile devices, on-board vehicles and roadside infrastructure has resulted in the exponential increase of available data. The data generated from these devices provide new opportunities for gaining insight into areas of our road network. The Data Standard provides the opportunity to underpin the collection and sharing of data into a nationally consistent architecture.

Register now for Webinar: Developing the Data to Support Heavy Vehicle Road Reforms

Thursday 14 March 2019 | 1pm AEDT

Since 2013, Austroads has provided significant funding to support the Heavy Vehicle Road Reforms being undertaken by the COAG Transport and Infrastructure Council. The reforms aim to establish a market that links heavy vehicle industry road user needs with the level of service roads provide, road charges paid by industry, and investment of those charges back into heavy vehicle road services.

For this kind of market to work, customers need to be able to clearly understand what service they are paying for. Phase One of the reforms is focused on improving the quality and transparency of information about road condition and the level of service different roads provide, as well as road spending.

This ongoing project has developed online processes for reporting data from asset owners across Australia, assessing the suitability of the infrastructure (level of service) for freight vehicles through the Heavy Vehicle Infrastructure Rating, and building an accessible and consistent National Asset Register of Freight Routes.

The asset registers and heavy vehicle infrastructure ratings delivered through this project will provide a baseline of information and a practical example of reporting against heavy vehicle levels of service.

This webinar will provide an update on the Austroads’ project to develop the data to support the Heavy Vehicle Road Reforms.

In this webinar, you’ll learn about

the background of the heavy vehicle road reforms
how the Heavy Vehicle Infrastructure Rating is calculated and used
online tools that have made the process of gathering data, producing ratings and sharing results easy and practical
current efforts to include local government roads in the asset register.

Join in a live Q&A with our presenter to have your questions answered.

Presented by Ulysses Ai

Ulysses has led projects for 11 years as a research scientist within ARRB’s asset management team. The majority of Ulysses’ work focusses on conducting experimental work, new areas of research, and the transferral of research findings into practical methods.

No charge but registration is essential.

Can’t make the live session? Register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.

Register now

Upcoming Austroads webinars

Improving Driver Licensing Programs for Indigenous Road Users and Transitioning Learnings to Other User Groups 27 February 2019, 1pm AEDT

Passing Lanes: Safety and Performance 5 March 2019, 1pm AEDT

Long-term Pavement Performance Study 7 March 2019, 1pm AEDT

Developing the Data to Support Heavy Vehicle Road Reforms 14 March 2019, 1pm AEDT

No charge but registration is essential.

Can’t make the live session? Register and we’ll send you a link to the recording.

Latest webinar recordings

Guidelines for the Provision of Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Facilities
This webinar, presented on 14 February 2019, provides an overview of the Austroads Guidelines for the Provision of Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Facilities.

Embedding Safe System in the Guide to Traffic Management
This webinar, presented on 7 February 2019, provides an overview of a Safe System review of the Austroads Guide to Traffic Management (AGTM).

Level of Service Requirements for Freight on Rural Roads and Refinement of Heavy Vehicle Roughness Band Index
This webinar, presented on 31 January 2019, provides an overview of Austroads' study that proposes a ride quality index of roads for heavy vehicles, a heavy vehicle equivalent of the International Roughness Index (IRI) for cars.

View all our past webinars online www.austroads.com.au/webinars.

Informal rest areas (green reflectors): TCA releases second instalment of consolidated heavy vehicle rest area information

Earlier this month, Transport Certification Australia (TCA) commenced the release of digitised informal rest area information through the Traveller Information Exchange (TIX).

The second instalment of consolidated heavy vehicle rest area information is the first time that information about informal rest areas – identified by green reflectors – has been digitised.

The Chief Executive Officer of TCA, Chris Koniditsiotis, said “Over the last twelve months TCA has worked with Road and Transport Safety Advocate, Rod Hannifey, to digitally record location and amenity information of informal rest areas.”

“By using in-cab navigation devices which reference information provided through TIX, drivers will have advance knowledge of informal rest area locations and amenities during their trip.”

“As the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of TCA, I am particularly pleased that Rod Hannifey’s work on green reflectors (which he has personally championed for nearly two decades) has progressed into the digital realm,” said Mr Koniditsiotis.

This new digital heavy vehicle rest area information complements the recent release of the Austroads Guidelines for the Provision of Heavy Vehicle Rest Area Facilities.

Download the TCA media release

Locating and evaluating fixed safety cameras in South Australia

The University of Adelaide's Centre for Automotive Safety Research has published a report that examines how other jurisdictions select new safety camera sites and suggest practical principles for locating new safety cameras in South Australia and evaluating their effectiveness. While no definitive best practice for choosing safety camera locations was found in the literature, there are a number of criteria that are frequently used and that make sense: locations with a high number of crashes (particularly injury crashes); locations with a high proportion of speeding vehicles; locations with high traffic volumes; locations with large numbers of unprotected road users (pedestrians and bicyclists); different camera types covering different areas of the road network; and deploying cameras widely throughout the road network.

Download the report

Last chance for CPEE enrolments

The Centre for Pavement Engineering Education (CPEE), is an accredited private provider of higher education specialising in postgraduate qualifications for the road and pavement sector.

New applications and re-enrolments into CPEE's award online programs are now open. The options on offer are:

These practical courses encourage direct application of the skills and knowledge acquired and incorporate the latest revised Austroads Guides.

Enrolments accepted up to 25 February 2019 (the start of Semester 1). Late enrolments may be considered in special circumstances.

Enrol now

CPEE has further enhanced its Academic Board with the appointment of Murray Erbs. Murray is a consultant, local government veteran and Chair of IPWEA’s National Asset Management Strategy

The Academic Board supervises development of CPEE's academic activities including the maintenance of academic quality, integrity and standards.

Latest BITRE resources

Road Deaths Australia—Monthly Bulletins

This bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. It is produced monthly and published on BITRE's website on or around the 14th of each month. Data are sourced from the road traffic or police authorities in each jurisdiction.

Download the February 2019 report

IPWEA NSW Regional Forums

For over a decade, The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA NSW) has steered the conversation within the engineering industry through their Regional Forums. Travelling across 12 regions in NSW during March and April, there is a forum coming to your local area.

These one day forums include presentations from local Members of Parliament, Mayors and Industry Experts as well as site tours concluding with a dinner providing invaluable networking opportunities. Expect to find out more about Sustainability in Road Construction, Dealing with Organic Waste, Innovation in Public Work Engineering and how Rads and Maritime Services is planning for the future. Don’t miss out – register at https://www.ipwea.org/newsouthwales/nswevents/regionalforums