Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

This webinar, presented by Les Louis, Lauren Thompson and Dr Richard Yeo, informs practitioners about the updates made to Part 2 of the Guide to Road Tunnels in 2021 and the reasons for those changes. Every section of Part 2 is addressed to show what changes have been made. More detail is provided about the new sections of the document, highlighting the most significant material added to the document in the section on Systems Engineering.

The overall changes brought about by recent research and developments, and those caused by revisions of the other parts of the guide as well as the addition of Part 4 are also addressed.

The Engineering Guideline to Bridge Asset Management was developed to provide specific asset management guidance for road bridges. The guideline promotes an engineering approach (engineering principles, knowledge, experience and modelling tools) as being the only robust method for understanding the current and future, condition and needs of a bridge network.

The guideline defines best practice asset management for bridges over their lifecycle in a manner that will provide a transparent link between investment and outcomes. It includes a specific and detailed asset management framework for bridges.

This webinar, presented by Barry Wright, Torill Pape and Peter Shaw, takes participants through the development of the guideline and provides an overview of the key principles and learnings contained in the guideline.

On-road public transport (ORPT) priority treatments improve public transport’s level of service increasing reliability and travel time benefits for users.

Austroads has developed a practical process (referred to as a ‘tool’) to guide practitioners through the selection of the appropriate ORPT priority treatments for any road scenario. The tool is documented in the 2020 Austroads report AP-R645-20 On-Road Public Transport Priority Tool.

This webinar, presented by David Green and Graham McCabe, provides an overview of the tool explaining how it was developed and how practitioners may use the tool in their day-to-day work.

Austroads’ report Improved Traffic Management Guidance: Freeway Capacity Analysis reviews the latest research and practices in freeway capacity analysis and makes recommendations for updating Austroads FCA guidance.

This webinar with Paul Bennett and Graham McCabe presents the research and findings outlined in the report, including the consultations with practitioners from across Australia and New Zealand, the comparative study of different capacity analysis methodologies and the recommendations made for updating Austroads FCA guidance.

The presentation slides can be downloaded from the supporting documents tab after logging in.

Raised Safety Platforms (RSPs) are a vertical deflection device increasingly used to reduce the maximum comfortable operating speed for vehicles to Safe System collision speeds, particularly at intersections. While the use of vertical deflection devices has typically been limited to lower speed environments, there is increasing interest in the use of RSPs in higher speed environments and for other locations where pedestrians and cyclists would typically be injured.

The purpose of Austroads’ research report ‘Effectiveness and Implementation of Raised Safety Platforms’ was to provide clarity around the design and operation of RSPs and deepen the understanding of leading international practice across a range of applications and performance dimensions. The research included a review of literature, sample investigations and edits to relevant Austroads guides. The literature has shown that, outside of the Netherlands, where RSPs have been used extensively, a ‘community of practice’ is developing in Australia and New Zealand, with the majority of applications at signalised intersections above 50 km/h to date being in Victoria. There is evidence that RSPs are a promising road safety countermeasure.

In this webinar Fabian Marsh, Hamish Mackie and Rebekah Thorne outline the research approach and the key findings from the information review and sample investigations that have implications for future practice.

This webinar, presented by Ann-Marie Head and Jeanette Ward, focuses on the planning and design considerations for walkable residential neighbourhoods, both new and existing, and where to find that guidance in Austroads’ guides.

The webinar covers the following key topics:

• what data to collect
• planning/network considerations
• design considerations
• examples of applying walkable characteristics
• best practice examples.

This is a final session in the series of webinars held by Austroads to step practitioners through the updated pedestrian planning and design information.

Austroads’ review of the pedestrian planning and design guidance in the Guide to Traffic Management (AGTM) and Guide to Road Design (AGRD) identified a total of 120 planning and design gaps. Recommended changes to the AGTM were published in April 2020 followed by a series of exceptionally popular webinars.

Recommended changes to the AGRD have been reviewed and approved by the Road Design Task Force and will find their way into the AGRD as part of its update and restructure planned by the Road Safety & Design program in FY20-21.

‘What gets measured gets managed’ (Drucker, 1954). Performance metrics, indicators and benchmarks describe how our road assets (and transport systems) are functioning and operating within the context of the road users’ (and societal) expectations. This enables agencies and authorities to manage investment and resources to address the areas of greatest need.

Austroads first developed National Performance Indicators (NPIs) in 1993 to promote consistency in reporting of road performance across state transport agencies. Over time, however, the uptake of NPIs has diminished due to a misalignment with state agencies’ own performance reporting needs, concurrently with the advent of new datasets and the increased value that these datasets provide.

This webinar, presented by Simon Latham, Scott Benjamin and Robert Kane, explores the current performance reporting practices used nationally and internationally including the type and application of urban road network performance indicators and metrics. The webinar highlights challenges and opportunities related to existing performance indicators and reporting and discusses the recommendations which look to support consistent and commonly agreed performance indicators (revised NPIs) for urban road-based transport performance measurement.

This webinar, presented by Richard Fanning, Noel O’Callaghan and Madeleine Bekavac, is about the guidance on road cross-section design for road stereotypes, which have been developed to assist road managers, planners and designers to achieve improved road safety outcomes through the application of consistent standards along a road corridor.

Practitioners will learn about the thirteen midblock road stereotypes that cover rural and urban roads ranging from freeways and motorways to local access roads. Through a number of case studies, presenters will demonstrate the application of the stereotypes for the development of network safety plans that illustrate how to achieve reductions in crash risk along the network.

Presenters also outline a range of cross-sections with different attributes that were considered appropriate for each road stereotype and assessed for crash risk using the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP) star ratings, the Australian National Risk Assessment Model (ANRAM) fatal and serious injury (FSI) crash prediction models.

A user guide developed to assists practitioners in selecting the most appropriate stereotypes suitable for the needs of their jurisdictions is also discussed.

This webinar, presented by Ann-Marie Head and Jeanette Ward,  focuses on the planning and design considerations that contribute to walkable activity centres - vibrant places where people shop, work, meet, relax and often live. The session also explains where this information can be found in Austroads’ guides.

The webinar covers the following key topics:

• what data to collect
• planning/network considerations
• examples of applying walkable characteristics
• design considerations
• types of shared space streets
• best practice examples.

This session is the fourth in the series of webinars held by Austroads to step practitioners through the updated pedestrian planning and design information.

Austroads’ review of the pedestrian planning and design guidance in the Guide to Traffic Management (AGTM) and Guide to Road Design (AGRD) identified a total of 120 planning and design gaps. Recommended changes to the AGTM were published in April 2020 followed by a series of exceptionally popular webinars.

Recommended changes to the AGRD have been reviewed and approved by the Road Design Task Force and will find their way into the AGRD as part of its update and restructure planned by the Road Safety & Design program in FY20-21.

This webinar presents how to ensure intersections are planned and designed appropriately for pedestrians, and where to find that guidance in Austroads’ guides.

The webinar covers the following key topics:

• what data to collect
• types and how they impact pedestrians
• selection process
• design of each type to improve walking outcomes
• best practice examples.

Presented by Ann-Marie Head and Jeanette Ward.

This session is the third in the series of webinars held by Austroads to step practitioners through the updated pedestrian planning and design information.

Austroads’ review of the pedestrian planning and design guidance in the Guide to Traffic Management (AGTM) and Guide to Road Design (AGRD) identified a total of 120 planning and design gaps. Recommended changes to the AGTM were published in April 2020 followed by a series of exceptionally popular webinars.

Recommended changes to the AGRD have been reviewed and approved by the Road Design Task Force and will find their way into the AGRD as part of its update and restructure planned by the Road Safety & Design program in FY20-21.