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

  • Maharashtra confirms hyperloop route in India
    February 26, 2018
    Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO) has signed an agreement with the Indian State of Maharashtra to create a route that intends to link central Pune, Navi Mumbai International Airport in 25minutes and connect 26 million people. It aims to eventually support 150 passenger trips annually and save more than 90 million hours of travel time. In addition, an initial pre-feasibility study by VHO indicates that the route could provide socio-economic benefits valued $55m (£39m) over 30 years of operation. It will be deploy
  • Truck platooning trials take to the highways
    July 24, 2017
    There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin
  • Truck platooning trials take to the highways
    July 24, 2017
    There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin
  • Developing Mexico's ITS standards and infrastructure
    February 28, 2013
    Promoting open market conditions for ITS deployment remains a major part of Mexico’s recent infrastructure modernization program. Travis P Dunn, partner at D’Artagnan Consulting, looks at the progress so far. In the past six years, Mexico has embarked on an ambitious infrastructure modernization program, calling for the construction and improvement of more than 19,000km of road infrastructure and the deployment of advanced technologies that improve safety, efficiency, and convenience for road users. One of