Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for March
RoadWatch: Roundup
March 2024
Welcome to our monthly Austroads RoadWatch: Roundup for March. Discover our latest news, published reports, Guide updates, webinars and events.
Star Ratings for Australian Arterial Roads by 2025
In a bid to enhance road safety nationally, Australia's states and territories will commence publishing updated AusRAP star ratings in 2024, with a commitment to publish star ratings for all major arterial roads by 2025.
The recent release of a new AusRAP Strategy and Business Plan by Austroads members outlines 12 targets geared towards supporting the national road safety objective of ensuring that at least 80% of travel occurs on roads with a 3-star rating or higher by 2030.
As the custodian of AusRAP, Austroads will take on the responsibility of coordinating the program and supporting partners in its delivery. Austroads will coordinate AusRAP activity across Australia, including reporting, data analysis and training of road managers.
AusRAP star ratings are measured on a scale from 1 to 5 stars and provide a clear indication of a road's safety performance, with the level of risk halving with each additional star. A 5-star rating represents the highest level of safety, while a 1-star rating indicates a higher risk. Analysis of AusRAP data will contribute to an overall improvement in road safety by supporting the optimisation of investment in the safety of roads. The commitment to publish star ratings and achieve the 2030 minimum 3-star target represents a critical step in enabling Australia’s long-term vision of zero deaths and serious injuries in road crashes by 2050.
Austroads, as the lead for AusRAP, will collaborate with a diverse array of stakeholders, including the AAA, the Australasian College of Road Safety, the Australian Local Government Association, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, iRAP, the National Transport Research Organisation, state and territory governments, and local governments.
Call for Submissions for ARSC closing soon!
Don't miss your chance to submit an extended abstract or workshop submission for the 2024 Australasian Road Safety Conference! The call for submissions to the 2024 ARSC closes Sunday 17th March.
Join Australasia’s leading road safety and injury prevention researchers, practitioners and policy makers for the Australasian Road Safety Conference 2024. The event will be held in Hobart, Tasmania from the 30th September - 3 October 2024. The conference will bring together Australasian road safety stakeholders and decision makers to collaborate and share road safety learnings.
For more information on ARSC 2024 or to lodge a submission, visit the ARSC website
Key changes to telematics requirements: are you ready?
If you are a heavy vehicle driver or transport operator who uses telematics devices to unlock productivity or access benefits, Austroads and Transport Certification Australia want you to be aware of some significant changes happening over the coming months.
Changes to telematics requirements in Queensland
Eligible Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicles and vehicles operating at higher mass limits need to transition from the Intelligent Access Program (IAP) to the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA) by 1 June 2024. Eligible vehicles also need to transition from Queensland's interim On Board Mass (OBM) solution to Smart OBM. Learn more.
Changes to telematics requirements in New South Wales
In New South Wales, PBS vehicles operating under permit where mass monitoring is currently an agreed condition of road access need to transition from NSW's interim OBM solution to Smart OBM by 1 June 2024. Operators can choose to stay enrolled in IAP, but may also need to enrol in TMA if mass monitoring is a condition of access in their permits. Learn more.
Closure of the 3G internet network
Across Australia, the closure of the 3G network by all major telcos will impact transport operators who rely on telematics devices for access or productivity benefits. These transport operators need to upgrade their 3G devices to 4G/5G compliant devices to remain legally compliant. A list of 4G compliant TCA-approved telematics devices is available here.
There is no charge for our webinars, but registration is essential. If you can’t make the live session, register and we will send you a link to the recording.
Methodology for Comparing Dangerous Goods Risk in Road Tunnels to Those on Alternative Routes | Register
Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 2 pm AEDT
This webinar will present the work involved in developing a standardised comparative risk assessment method for assessing life safety risk of dangerous goods being routed through the tunnel or via an alternative surface route.
Update to the Guide to Bridge Technology Part 7 | Register
Thursday, 28 March 2024, 1 pm AEDT
Austroads has completed its update of Section 3: Inspection, Testing, Monitoring and Reporting of the Guide to Bridge Technology Part 7: Maintenance and Management of Existing Bridges. The project involved taking a fresh look at the inspection process to provide a flexible framework from which users of the Guide can develop and improve their own inspection processes.
Validation of Superpave™ Method of Asphalt Compaction for Australasia | Register
Thursday, 4 April 2024, 1 pm AEDT
Austroads has completed a project to replace the obsolete gyratory compactors used in design and quality control testing of asphalt mixes and update its Guide to Pavement Technology Part 4B: Asphalt. This webinar will provide a detailed overview of the project, including the findings of the literature review and test data.
Update to the Guide to Bridge Technology Part 7 | Register
Monday, 8 April 2024, 1 pm AEDT
Austroads has completed a project that investigated the use of alternative anti-stripping additives (other than hydrated lime) to reduce the moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixes in service. This webinar will present important factors affecting the moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixes, commonly used moisture susceptibility test methods, the main benefits and disadvantages of using hydrated lime or liquid anti-stripping agents and present an interim Austroads laboratory assessment protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of different anti-stripping additives.
Recent webinar recordings
Austroads tenders and project opportunities
- SAG6365 Expression of Interest for Charting a Path to Eliminating Road Death and Serious Injury – Stream 2: Development of Zero Pathway Options and Stakeholder Engagement. Closing 4pm AEDT, Thursday 21 March 2024.
- FY25 External Audit Services Austroads. Closing 4pm AEDT, Thursday 28 March 2024.
- NEG6440 Proof-of-concept – Austroads-23 Classification Scheme. Closing 4pm AEDT, Thursday 4 April 2024.
- NEG6444 Guidelines for Planning and Design of Bus Infrastructure on Roads. Closing 4pm AEDT, Thursday 18 April 2024.
Current vacancies
Austroads and Transport Certification Australia (TCA) employ staff across a range of specialised and technical disciplines. We pay attention to maintaining a safe and welcoming work environment, where all staff have equal access to opportunities. We encourage our staff to participate in external and internal training to make sure their skills and knowledge are continuously improved. We take inclusion and diversity seriously. We embrace difference and diversity of identity, experience and thought, and actively strive for inclusive behaviours across our company and our work.
We currently have open positions for:
Senior Communications Officer – Stakeholder Engagement and Media
BITRE research
BITRE's monthly bulletin contains current counts and summaries of road crash deaths and fatal road crashes in Australia. Data are sourced from the road traffic or police authorities in each jurisdiction.
You can also view monthly updated road safety statistics and an Australian Road Deaths Database.
Upcoming industry events
Roads, Tolling and Technology Conference, Brisbane, 20-21 March 2024
ALRTA LRTAQ Conference, Toowoomba, 21-23 March 2024
IPWEA Australasian Fleet Conference, Brisbane, 25-27 March 2024
