Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Connected and Automated Vehicles Trials

This webinar provides an overview of progress and key lessons learnt from three major Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) trials in Australia.

It covers: 
• ARRB/ConnectEast/VicRoads development of road certification criteria for partially automated vehicles on motorways through testing of a range of vehicles equipped with traffic sign recognition, lane keeping assistance, and adaptive cruise control.
• Queensland’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Initiative’s C-ITS Pilot which is testing eight C-ITS use-cases on 500 vehicles on arterial and motorway roads in Ipswich.
• NSW Centre for Road Safety Cooperative Intelligent Transport Initiative’s (CITI) project which is the first large scale evaluation of C-ITS applications in heavy vehicles.

The webinar was presented on 3 July 2018 by Chris Jones, Niko Limans, Samantha Taylor, Dr Miranda Blogg and John Wall.

Guideline for Continual Improvement Processes for Asset Management

This webinar provides an overview of a guideline that aims to provide asset management practitioners with an understanding of the factors that contribute to enabling and sustaining continual improvement.

It covers:
• the factors that contribute to achieving and sustaining continual improvement.
• how to create an environment conducive to continual improvement
• approaches to identify, evaluation and prioritise continual improvement initiatives
• how to implement and monitor initiative to sustain and build on success.

The webinar was presented on 28 June 2018 by Aneurin Hughes and Stephen Walker.

Benefits of Safety and Traffic Management Technologies

This webinar summarises the results of a domestic and international review of recently-developed ITS technologies.

It covers:
• technologies that were evaluated, including a qualitative indication of their costs and benefits 
• evaluation methodology that was developed to evaluate the quality of published ITS performance studies.

The webinar was presented on 19 June 2018 by Dr Glenn Geers.

Guidelines and Specifications for Microsurfacing

This webinar provides an overview of the updated Austroads microsurfacing guidelines and model specification.

It covers:
• major changes to the microsurfacing guidelines and specifications 
• related test methods
• materials and emerging technologies.

The webinar was presented on 14 June 2018 by Steve Patrick.

Updated Pedestrian Facility Selection Tool (2018)

This webinar provides an introduction to the Pedestrian Facility Selection Tool and a demonstration on how to use it with a fully worked example. The tool is designed to help Australian and New Zealand practitioners select the most appropriate type of pedestrian crossing based on walkability, safety and economic outcomes.

It covers:
• the research and analytical models used to inform the tool
• recent improvements to the functionality
• how to access and use the tool in an applied context.

The webinar was presented on 29 May 2018 by Dave Smith and Dr Stacy Rendall.

Best Practice in Road Safety Infrastructure Programs

This webinar provides best practice recommendations for the development of Road Safety Infrastructure Programs (RSIPs) that align with the safe system approach.

It covers:
• a best practice structure for the development and implementation of RSIPs
• guidance to demonstrate how program development and implementation can be improved to make greater fatal and serious casualty savings from road safety infrastructure investment
• case studies of current best and good practice
• recommendations towards the implementation of findings including benchmarking industry progress.

The webinar was presented on 15 May 2018 by Paul Durdin and Dave Smith.

Towards Safe System Infrastructure

This webinar, provides an overview of the new Austroads compendium of knowledge on Safe System treatments and real world experience in the practical application of solutions that can mitigate crash severity. It outlines information covered in a series of workshops on the translation of the Safe System approach, enabling attendees to consider the application of the theories onto their own road networks.

It covers the:
• new Austroads compendium on Safe System infrastructure relating to planning, designing and managing roads and roadsides
• origins of the Safe System and current implementation
• Safe System solutions that can be used to address key crash types
• tools that have been developed to help align infrastructure projects with Safe System outcomes.

The webinar was presented on 10 May 2018 by Associate Professor Jeremy Woolley and Dr Blair Turner.

Geopolymer Concrete and its Applications

This webinar outlines the findings of an Austroads geopolymer concrete project and a current update of the use, monitoring and specification of geopolymer concrete by VicRoads over the past nine years.

It covers:
• geopolymer concrete, its constituents and how it is manufactured 
• formulation and testing of numerous geopolymer recipes, and investigation of workability, strength development, mechanical behaviour, durability properties, abrasion resistance and ductility of reinforced geopolymer concrete 
• the introduction of geopolymer concrete into VicRoads with several trial structural applications, general paving works and evaluation of performance.

The webinar was presented on 1 May 2018 by Dr Ahmad Shayan and Fred Andrews-Phaedonos.

Local Road Access for High Productivity Freight Vehicles

This webinar outlines the contemporary barriers to local road access for high productivity freight vehicles, and some of the options available for local road managers when considering road access.

It covers:
• how road network classification and mapping is progressing around the country
• most common barriers to access as reported by stakeholders
• several case studies demonstrating how others have overcome access barriers
• recommendations to improve local road access nationally.

The webinar was presented on 27 March 2018 by Rob Di Cristoforo.  

Pavement Design: Guide to Pavement Technology Parts 2 and 4C (2017 Editions)

This webinar provides an overview of the major changes to the design of heavy-duty flexible pavements, including the new:
• axle-strain approach central to the mechanistic-empirical design method
• definitions of design traffic
• characterisation of cemented material and asphalt.

The potential structural contribution of lime-stabilised subgrades for flexible pavements, and minor updates to concrete pavement jointing details are also discussed.

The webinar was presented on 9 March 2018 by Dr Michael Moffatt.