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AustroadsNews | January 2018
Welcome to the first edition of AustroadsNews for 2018. If you have been forwarded this email you can subscribe here to receive future updates.
Contents
Pavement structural design guidance updated
Materials for concrete road pavements guidance updated
ITS licence enables introduction of next generation of connected vehicles to Australia
Connected and automated vehicle sign recognition trials
Safe system infrastructure on mixed use arterials
Safe System intersections will rely on new approaches
Modelling for high productivity vehicles in metropolitan areas
New research addresses tunnel crashes
New webinar recordings
World Road Association technical committees update
BITRE reports
Upcoming workshops + conferences
Pavement structural design guidance updated
Part 2 is the most popular part of the Guide to Pavement Technology.
It covers the assessment of input parameters needed for design, design methods for flexible and rigid pavements and gives guidance on the economic comparisons of alternative pavement designs. Specifically, this Part contains procedures for the design of the following forms of sealed road pavement construction subjected to conventional road traffic:
- flexible pavements consisting of unbound granular materials
- flexible pavements that contain one or more bound layers
- rigid pavements (i.e. concrete pavements).
Materials for concrete road pavements guidance updated
Austroads has published an updated edition of the Guide to Pavement Technology Part 4C: Materials for Concrete Road Pavements.
The Guide summarises Australian and New Zealand practice in the use of materials for:
- base concrete and lean-mix concrete subbase
- concrete curing compounds
- steel reinforcement including tie bars and dowel bars
- joint sealants and fillers.
ITS licence enables introduction of next generation of connected vehicles to Australia
Austroads supports the recent announcement by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) that the Radiocommunications (Intelligent Transport Systems) Class Licence 2017 has been issued.
The release of the ITS Class Licence marks an important milestone towards enabling the next generation of connected and automated vehicles to be introduced to the Australian market.
The emergence of connected and automated vehicles has the potential to deliver significant societal benefits in the form of improved road safety, reduced traffic congestion, and positive environmental outcomes.
The ITS Class Licence will allow connected vehicles and roadside infrastructure to share data using the 5.9 GHz radio frequency band. Importantly the licence aligns with international developments, particularly in Europe.
Austroads, working closely with its road agency members and a range of key industry stakeholders, has taken a lead role driving the process to establish the ITS Class Licence with the ACMA.
"This is an important milestone in Australia’s readiness to support connected and automated vehicles. Austroads has worked closely with the ACMA, and collaborated with a range of industry and government stakeholders to achieve this outcome," said Nick Koukoulas, Austroads Chief Executive.
Connected and automated vehicle sign recognition trials
In November, Austroads tested vehicles with traffic sign recognition systems at the Australian Automotive Research Centre test track in Anglesea as well as in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.
The trials are part of a study into the Implications of in-vehicle Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) Systems for Road Operators which will help guidance for Australasian road authorities prepare for the arrival of connected and automated vehicles.
A sample of roads and a range of prototype and commercially available vehicles were involved in the on-road evaluation.
The project is due to be completed in the end of 2018.
Safe system infrastructure on mixed use arterials
Austroads has released a report which synthesises key safety solutions and issues that need to be considered when effectively addressing safety on urban mixed use arterial routes.
Urban arterials and intersections account for a large proportion of high-severity crashes in Australia and New Zealand, particularly involving vulnerable road users. These roads often include a mixture of different road user types including pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, and carry a wide variety of vehicle types including cars, buses and delivery vehicles.
Safety gains appear to be slower in this ‘mixed use’ environment than in other areas. Austroads commissioned research to help identify solutions that might be applied on mixed use arterial roads to improve safety through the provision of Safe System infrastructure.
The project assessed six case studies located in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, and Launceston in Australia and in Hamilton, New Zealand. Workshops in each location assessed the types of solutions that might be applied on each route to help achieve effective safety outcomes. Each route was inspected by a team of safety experts and additional information (including crash and traffic volume data) was obtained.
Webinar: Thursday 8 February 2018 | 1pm AEDT
Join us for an online overview of key solutions that might be applied on mixed use urban arterial roads to improve safety through the provision of Safe System infrastructure.
Presented by Dr Blair Turner and Kenn Beer.
No charge, but registration is essential.
Safe System intersections will rely on new approaches
A recent study commissioned by Austroads has concluded that achievement of Safe System for intersections requires significant supporting contributions from emerging transport disciplines such as C-ITS, autonomous vehicles, and Movement and Place.
Intersection crashes account for approximately 30% of severe injuries (fatal and hospitalisation) in Australia and New Zealand.
While research has been able to quantify the magnitude of the intersection problem, there is a lack of understanding surrounding the poor Safe System performance of traditional intersection designs. Current Austroads guides do not address this and there is little other practical guidance available to road agencies on how to modify intersection designs to minimise the occurrence of death and severe injury.
In response to these gaps, Austroads commissioned the Australian Road Research Board to investigate initiatives to improve the design of intersections so that they would be better aligned with the Safe System objective of minimising death and serious injury.
The study reviewed recent literature and data to synthesise the following Safe System intersection design principles: minimise conflict points, remove/simplify road user decisions, minimise impact angles, and minimise entry and impact speeds.
Modelling for high productivity vehicles in metropolitan areas
Austroads has released a report which examines the impact of Performance Based Standard (PBS) 2B vehicles accessing metropolitan roads.
PBS 2B vehicles are high productivity freight vehicles with a maximum length of 30 metres. These vehicles present opportunities to reduce freight transport costs, however their access to metropolitan roads is constrained, which limits their take-up and potential benefits.
To expand PBS 2B access on metropolitan roads it is important to understand how they affect performance in a network characterised by congested stop-start operation, constrained queue storage and turning spaces, and the presence of vulnerable road users.
A review of research identified risks in exacerbating congestion delay, crash risks to vulnerable road users and degradation of amenity. On the other hand, the benefits of PBS 2B vehicles are evident in the reduction in vehicle operating and environmental costs (i.e. emissions). The vehicles are also potentially safer compared to alternative trucks based on historical vehicle-to-vehicle crash rates.
Webinar: Thursday 13 February 2018 | 1pm AEDT
Join us for an online overview of the Austroads project on the modelling of high productivity vehicles in metropolitan areas.
Presented by Ian Espada.
No charge, but registration is essential.
New research addresses tunnel crashes
Austroads has released a report which identifies factors that contribute to the occurrence and severity of crashes adjacent to and within tunnels and suggests remedial treatments.
A preliminary examination of recorded road crashes immediately adjacent to and within a selected sample of Australian tunnels found that, while tunnels are relatively safe when compared with other parts of the road network, crashes in or near them are a significant source of road trauma and cause substantial delays to road users across the road network.
New webinar recordings
In November and December, Austroads ran the following webinars:
Guide to Traffic Management Part 13: Road Environment Safety (2017 Edition)
Guide to Traffic Management Part 3: Traffic Studies and Analysis (2017 Edition)
Development of National Mass Assessment Procedures for Oversize Overmass Vehicles
The recordings of the webinars and presentation slides are now available to view on our website.
World Road Association technical committees update
Austroads currently has full or corresponding representatives on 15 World Road Association technical committees.
The technical committee representatives are either members of or have a close working relationship with an Austroads Taskforce or working group. The most recent progress reports on the work being conducted by the technical committees are available below.
Bridges
The Bridge Technical Committee is studying design and inspection practices, reviewing repair and rehabilitation strategies, and assessing evaluation models to help determine reliability and safety.
Suzanne Brown, DTMR Qld, attended the Committee meeting in October 2017.
Environmental Considerations
The Environmental Considerations in Road Projects and Operations Committee is addressing noise reduction and air quality.
Helen Murphy, Helix Environmental and Rob Hannaby, NZTA, attended the Committee meeting in October 2017.
Sustainable Multimodality
The Sustainable Multimodality in Urban Regions Technical Committee is identifying and comparing mobility strategies designed to improve travel choices and accessibility in urban environments.
Michael McClean, VicRoads, attended the Committee meeting in November 2017.
Asset Management
The Asset Management Technical Committee is focussed on progress with the research and development program including:
- Standardisation of multi-language asset management terminology
- Publication of asset management guidance, and case studies of innovative approaches
- Development of approaches to developing asset management competence, and standardising descriptions of competence levels, and training courses
David Darwin, NZTA, attended the Committee meeting in October 2017.
Network Operations/ITS
The work of the Road Network Operations/Intelligent Transportation Systems Technical Committee is focussed on updating the ITS/Road Network Operation Manual. It will also examine the issue of Big Data and its applications to road transport.
Dr Ian Espada, ARRB, attended the committee meeting in November 2017.
Adaptation Strategies/Resiliency
The Adaptation Strategies/Resiliency Technical Committee is focussed on dealing with strategies for climate change adaptation to increase resiliency of road infrastructure.
Caroline Evans, ARRB, attended the committee meeting in November 2017.
BITRE reports
Road deaths Australia—monthly bulletins
Released mid month - Latest December 2017
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.
Fatal Heavy Vehicle Crashes Australia—quarterly bulletins
Latest September 2017
This quarterly publication tracks fatal crashes that involve heavy vehicles.
Upcoming workshops + conferences
NEW Austroads Webinar: Safe System Infrastructure on Mixed Use Arterials | 8 February 2018, Online (no charge, but registration is essential)
NEW Austroads Webinar: Modelling of High Productivity Vehicles in Metropolitan Areas | 13 February 2018, Online (no charge, but registration is essential)
28th Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) International Conference | 29 April - 2 May 2018, Brisbane, Queensland
World Road Association's 8th Symposium on Pavement Surface Characteristics: SURF 2018 | 2-4 May 2018, Brisbane, Queensland
NEW ITS Australia Mobility as a Service (MaaS) 2018 | 3 May 2018, Sydney New South Wales
NEW RA - IRF Regional Conference for Asia and Australasia | 31 May - 1 June 2018, Sydney New South Wales
NEW ITS Australia National electronic Tolling and Charging (NeTC) 2018 | 6-7 June 2018, Melbourne Victoria
IABMAS 2018 | 9-13 July 2018, Melbourne, Victoria
NEW AITPM National Traffic & Transport Conference | 24-27 July 2018, Perth, Western Australia
Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2017) | 3-5 October 2018, Sydney New South Wales
