Skip to main content

Australia to develop national smart managed motorways trial

Australia's 2011 federal government budget, announced yesterday, will provide AU$61.4 million over three years for the development of a national smart managed motorways trial to improve congestion, lower urban emissions, and expand the capacity of existing outer city road infrastructure networks.
May 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Australia’s 2011 federal government budget, announced yesterday, will provide AU$61.4 million over three years for the development of a national smart managed motorways trial to improve congestion, lower urban emissions, and expand the capacity of existing outer city road infrastructure networks.

The programme will fund smart infrastructure road projects identified by Infrastructure Australia, a statutory body established under the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008, as demonstrating high benefit-cost ratios and improving traffic demand management and the overall efficiency of the transport flows in major cities. A range of ITS solutions, including ramp metering and signalling, variable message signs, traveller information systems, managed motorways and freight prioritisation, will be used, while Infrastructure Australia has had its funding increased by $36 million over the next four years. This is to enable it to develop long-term strategies to tackle infrastructure bottlenecks, improve freight networks, and promote private funding of domestic infrastructure by investors.

Outlining the government’s infrastructure vision and plans in a budget statement, Anthony Albanese, Australia’s minister for infrastructure and transport, said the managed motorway scheme would secure a higher and more consistent level of motorway performance resulting in travel time savings and improved reliability, improved road safety and lower greenhouse gases emissions.

His full, 42-page budget statement, which contains the principal elements of Australia's national policy (Our Cities, Our Future: A national urban policy for a productive, sustainable and liveable future) released yesterday.

Related Content

  • UK investment to make it easier and safer to get on your bike
    November 28, 2014
    UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced the UK Government’s biggest single investment in cycling, which includes US$179 million to secure funding to support the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme for the next three years in Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford accelerate their development of local cycling networks, increase protection for cyclists at junctions and traffic hot spots and help prevent accidents. US$157 million will also be invested over t
  • ITS World Congress Hall of Fame winners
    September 8, 2016
    The ITS World Congress 2016 Hall of Fame winners have been announced and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 23rd ITS World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, 10-14 October, Melbourne, Australia. The Awards recognise individuals, industries and local governments striving to set the bar higher and enhance the end user experience. Local solutions often have wider applications, ensuring international transport, safety and technology improvements, enhancing liveability in cities and communitie
  • Reading gets message from Swarco
    October 19, 2022
    Traffic management in the UK town has improved since VMS installation, council says
  • Cost benefit goes under the microscope
    August 21, 2017
    Conventional cost benefit analysis (CBA) of plans for urban smart mobility initiatives needs serious rethinking, according to a recently-completed European study. The three-year Evidence Project (the Project) emerged in response to concerns about the availability and quality of documented research – including CBA – required to prove that investment in sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) can be economically beneficial. Covering 22 sectors ranging from electric vehicles to shared spaces, the Project clai