Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Austroads Project Pipeline 2023-24

This webinar is beneficial to consultants who may be interested in tendering for Austroads projects. The session covers new Austroads projects lined up for the 2023-24 financial year, Austroads process around research data collection and what is required to become a successful tenderer.

To find information about Austroads' current tenders, visit the tenders webpage. On that page, you can also subscribe to our Tenders newsletter to receive alerts when a new project is advertised.

Victorian Government’s Enrolment of Smart OBM

The Department of Transport and Planning Victoria has announced 30 June 2023 as the final deadline to have smart on-board mass (OBM) systems fitted to certain high productivity freight vehicles (HPFVs).

Beyond this date, the mass limits of the below classes of vehicles will be restricted if not fitted with Smart OBM:

• vehicles more than 26m in length, with a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) in excess of 68.5 tonnes
• quad-axle semi-trailers with a GCM in excess of 46.0 tonnes

This webinar, presented by Gavin Hill and Ian Mond, covers:

• the changes and how they will affect transport operators traveling in/to Victoria
• the steps required for signing up to Smart OBM
• the importance of Smart OBM for the Victorian road network
• the ways mass data from Smart OBM is being used by road managers.

Queensland’s Transition from IAP to TMA

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads has announced upcoming changes which will harmonise the use of National Telematics Framework applications for heavy vehicles in Queensland with other jurisdictions.

These changes will include transitioning the subject vehicles from the:

• Intelligent Access Program (IAP) to the Telematics Monitoring Application (TMA)
• Interim On-Board Mass (OBM) Solution to Smart On-Board Mass (Smart OBM)

This webinar, presented by Gavin Hill from TCA and Mark Mitchell from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, provides an overview of the changes covering:

• the use of the National Telematics Framework to improve road outcomes
• the differences between IAP and TMA
• what’s behind the change
• what you need to know about the 18-month transition

National Access Framework for Heavy Vehicles

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, presenters – Pascal Felix, Stuart Maxwell and Sanjiv Sathiah, talk about the elements of the framework and how they will potentially benefit state and local road managers and industry.

Austroads Project Pipeline 2022-23

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, automated and electric vehicle data exchange and provision.

National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy

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 planning, coordination and regulation; and
• Better freight location and performance data.

This webinar, presented by Georgia O’Cianain, Andrew Higgins and Deb Fearns, provides an overview of the following action items under the Strategy:

• National Freight Data Hub, a federated data-sharing network to provide open access to government data, help industry share data together, and collectively answer the big questions about Australia’s freight performance and how we can improve it.
• Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard, a web-based data visualisation tool that provides detailed and interactive modelling of Australian transport and logistics supply chains across road and rail. A total of 150 commodities are available with a variety of capabilities including enhanced geographic filtering.
• National Urban Freight Planning Principles, seven high-level principles endorsed by Australian, state and territory governments that provide guidance for land use decision-making across all levels of government to improve planning for freight in Australia’s metropolitan areas.

Investigation of Pavement Assessment Methodologies for PBS Access

We rely on road freight transport to keep Australia’s economy moving. Performance Based Standards (PBS) vehicles, that are typically longer and heavier, do this work more efficiently but how much road damage do they cause in the process?

This webinar, presented by Anthony Germanchev, Georgia O’Connor and Angus Draheim, explores the methods used by road managers to answer this question. It proposes a framework to support consistent approaches to understanding and comparing the pavement impacts of PBS vehicles. Some of the key steps government agencies are taking to support road managers in assessing PBS vehicles for network access are also outlined.

Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard

Comparing the movement of commodities, domestically and internationally, helps to identify potential action areas to support Australian supply chain efficiency, competitiveness and resilience. As part of the Commonwealth international benchmarking project, the Supply Chain Benchmarking Dashboard was developed as a joint initiative between CSIRO and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (the department).

The dashboard is planned for release in the second half of 2021, and provides modelling and insights on Australian supply chain performance to:

• support data-led decision-making to inform policy, investment and operational outcomes for government and industry
• provide a national picture of supply chain performance across a wide range of metrics, commodities and regions
• provide a comprehensive evidence base for international comparison.

This webinar demonstrates how users will be able to compare supply chain metrics across commodities, different transportation paths or segments in supply chains (e.g. producer to distributor, or distribution centre to port) and in different regions or locations (currently LGAs, states and territories).

The dashboard displays aggregated outputs from the Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT) – a computer modelling tool developed by CSIRO that performs mass optimal routing of vehicle movements between thousands of enterprises. For each origin/destination enterprise pair, the model selects the least-cost travel path as well as the optimal vehicle configuration, allowing for road access and conditions, driver fatigue regulations and vehicle decoupling costs. The model outputs information on freight paths as well as detailed transport costs. Following release of the first iteration, stakeholder engagement is planned to gain feedback to further refine the model to best meet the needs of users.

Presented by CSIRO’s Senior Scientist Andrew Higgins and Ross Slater, Assistant Director at the department’s National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy Implementation Unit.

Options for Managing the Impacts of Aged Heavy Vehicles

The freight industry is critical to the economy, and for many sectors it is heavy vehicles that underpin freight movements and prosperity.

The average age of trucks in Australia and New Zealand is among the highest in the developed world. The oldest trucks are associated with higher environmental and health costs than newer trucks, yet these have been poorly quantified to date. Managing these issues is important to maintaining the freight industry’s social license.

Austroads has published a research report which analyses the impacts of an ageing heavy vehicle fleet and explores measures that have been used to manage this challenge in Australasia and internationally.

Investigation and Development of Bridge Formulae for Inclusion in the Performance-based Standards

This webinar, presented on 29 April 2020, discusses the merits of three options to advance the future of PBS access in Australia as it relates to bridges. It was presented by Angus Draheim, Matthew Bereni and Neal Lake.