Skip to main content

Melbourne installs smart road technology

Work is now underway on installing the latest electronic freeway management technology along Melbourne’s West Gate Freeway in Victoria, Australia, with the entire project to be completed by the middle of next year. Installation of the freeway management system along more of Melbourne’s road network will be fully integrated with the one already in use on the M1 east of Williamstown Road as well as that proposed for the M80 Ring Road, according to Victorian Roads (VicRoads) minister Terry Mulder. “Indeed, ou
June 18, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Work is now underway on installing the latest electronic freeway management technology along Melbourne’s West Gate Freeway in Victoria, Australia, with the entire project to be completed by the middle of next year.

Installation of the freeway management system along more of Melbourne’s road network will be fully integrated with the one already in use on the M1 east of Williamstown Road as well as that proposed for the M80 Ring Road, according to Victorian Roads (4728 VicRoads) minister Terry Mulder.  “Indeed, our ultimate aim is to deliver safer, faster and less congested driving conditions along all of the City’s major routes, he said.
 
The project includes new signs to inform drivers which lanes they should use and alert them to temporary speed limit changes, as well as closed circuit television and upgrading of the supporting communication networks and central control systems.
 
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said once operational, the technology will give VicRoads the tools they need to better manage traffic flows and respond quickly to accidents and breakdowns.
 
“For the 180,000 motorists and truck drivers who use this vital part of the City’s road network every day, the retrofitting of this technology will mean faster, safer and less frustrating driving conditions,” Mr Albanese said.
 
“Indeed if applied nationwide, electronic freeway management systems have the potential to greatly reduce congestion and save Australian families and businesses more than US$474 million a year.”

Related Content

  • May 7, 2015
    Russia looks to ITS to curb congestion and reduce accidents
    Major ITS installations are planned as the Russian capital Moscow grapples with extensive traffic problems. At the end of 2014, Russia’s first complex intelligent transport system (ITS) started easing traffic problems in and around the capital Moscow, following the implementation of the plans by the federal government and the city’s authorities.
  • December 19, 2016
    Australia to trial autonomous vehicles on public roads
    Australia’s Victorian government is to begin a trial to look at how automated vehicles can interact with Australian road infrastructure. VicRoads will work with industry to seek feedback on the government’s Future Directions Paper, which outlines the need for regulatory changes to allow testing of highly automated vehicles on public roads. The consultation will focus on how to ensure road safety during testing on public roads, what constitutes a driver ‘being in control’ and understanding how the changi
  • December 5, 2014
    Motorists want roads repaired before smart motorways, says survey
    According to research by Bury-based online car supermarket JamJar Direct, which indicates that 47 per cent of Greater Manchester motorists claim to have been affected by the construction works, communications around the M60 smart motorway improvements are sorely lacking. Almost two thirds of Greater Manchester motorists (62 per cent) are aware that the M60 is being turned into a smart motorway, but over 40 per cent, equivalent to 81,000 vehicles per day using affected stretch of M60 between junctions 8 a
  • July 7, 2017
    Bristol’s buses trial CycleEye detection system
    Fusion Processing’s Jim Hutchinson looks at a two-year trial of the company’s cyclist detection system. Is cycling in a city dangerous? Well, that depends where you are and how you view statistics. Malmö is far more bike-friendly than Mumbai and the risk can either be perceived as small - one death per 29 million miles cycled in the UK in 2013 - or large - that equated to 109 deaths in the same year. Whatever your personal take on the data, the effect of these accidents can be felt indirectly too. News of c