Skip to main content

Queensland’s emergency vehicles green-lit for a quicker response

A US$6 million rollout of new traffic signal technology is to be rolled out across Queensland, Australia, over the next four years to improve travel times for emergency services vehicles, allowing quicker response times to priority incidents across the state. Emergency vehicle priority (EVP) technology automatically interrupts traffic signal operations to provide a green light signal to emergency response vehicles when safe to do so.
November 25, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

A US$6 million rollout of new traffic signal technology is to be rolled out across Queensland, Australia, over the next four years to improve travel times for emergency services vehicles, allowing quicker response times to priority incidents across the state.

Emergency vehicle priority (EVP) technology automatically interrupts traffic signal operations to provide a green light signal to emergency response vehicles when safe to do so.
The new technology rollout will reduce wait times for Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and the Queensland Ambulance Service and create a safer road network for motorists and emergency services drivers.

A recent performance evaluation of EVP in the Gold Coast area has shown that travel time for EVP equipped vehicles was reduced by 17-26 per cent compared to non-EVP equipped vehicles. Over the next four years, a further 1,600 intersections and nearly 700 emergency vehicles will be fitted with the devices

Toowoomba and Mackay are the next regional centres planned for the rollout, with EVP technology to be enabled in 2016. This expansion will complement the existing 800 intersections, 215 ambulances and 69 fire trucks that are currently using this technology.

The project is a joint collaboration between 796 Transmax, the 7026 Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Queensland Ambulance Service, and Public Service Business Agency. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS America 2016 San Jose tours programme shows the present and future of ITS
    May 27, 2016
    The major theme of Thursday, June 16, at ITS America 2016 San Jose will be a series of tours that exemplify intelligent transportation at work today and with an eye to the future. The Interstate 80 Integrated Corridor Mobility Project Tour will take in one of the most complex integrated Active Traffic Management systems in the country. This tour includes a stop at the Caltrans TMC in Oakland for an overview of system operations
  • Why integrated traffic management needs a cohesive approach
    April 10, 2012
    Traffic control is increasingly being viewed as one essential element of a wider ‘system of systems’ – the smart city. Jason Barnes, Jon Masters and David Crawford report on latest ideas and efforts for making cities ‘smarter’ Virtually every element of the fabric and utilitarian operations that make urban areas tick can now be found somewhere in the mix that is the ‘smart city’ agenda. Ideas have expanded and projects pursued in different directions as the rhetoric on making cities ‘smarter’ has grown. App
  • VW scandal prompts emissions testing debate
    December 1, 2015
    In the wake of the VW scandal John Kendall looks at emissions testing on both sides of the Atlantic. Since the VW emissions story broke in September, emissions testing has come under greater scrutiny, and none more so than in Europe, where critics have long been highlighting the weaknesses of the testing system. Ironically, changes to the emissions testing process were already under review but the story has pushed it up the agenda.
  • Virtual traffic management centres, a new direction in traffic monitoring
    January 30, 2012
    David Crawford picks up a new direction trend in traffic monitoring The surprise winner in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) category of the recently-announced 2011 OSMOSE (Open Source for MObile and SustainablE city) Awards for European innovations in urban transport, is the Danish city of Aalborg - which doesn't have a TMC. Alternatively, one might consider its 'virtual' TMC as a signpost for the future in medium-sized cities.