Skip to main content

Swinburne ITS Laboratory launched in Australia

The Swinburne Intelligent Transport Systems Laboratory has been launched in a joint collaboration between VicRoads, the road agency of the Australian state of Victoria, and Swinburne University of Technology. The state’s first dedicated traffic analysis research centre, it will analyse live traffic data to gain insight into network congestion and develop better mechanisms for managing vehicle flows. The research will be fed directly back to VicRoads' head office in order to improve traffic management strate
April 24, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The Swinburne Intelligent Transport Systems Laboratory has been launched in a joint collaboration between 4728 VicRoads, the road agency of the Australian state of Victoria, and 5192 Swinburne University of Technology. The state’s first dedicated traffic analysis research centre, it will analyse live traffic data to gain insight into network congestion and develop better mechanisms for managing vehicle flows. The research will be fed directly back to VicRoads' head office in order to improve traffic management strategies, such as timing for traffic lights, variable speed limits, and freeway ramp signals.

Analysis of traffic data across the city will enable the laboratory to develop models on ways to improve traffic flow, relying on efficient communication of information within the transport network.

"Traffic congestion costs our economy billions of dollars in petrol and lost time each year,” said associate professor, Hai Vu, head of the new laboratory. “Helping our roads to flow more smoothly is a vital goal for our Lab, but will also have a significant environmental impact, with lower carbon emissions as people spend less time in their vehicles.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Priority boosts ridership and cuts congestion
    May 4, 2016
    Transit priority is proving a win-win in Europe and Australia. David Crawford reports. Technology that integrates with the Australian-originated Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) is driving bus signal priority and performance analysis initiatives on both sides of the world; in its homeland, with a major deployment in 2015, and in the capital of the Republic of Ireland.
  • ITS can reduce Bangkok’s congestion, improve safety
    August 24, 2015
    A new research report produced by the GSMA, Building Digital Societies in Asia: Making Transportation Smarter, indicates that the successful implementation of intelligent transport systems (ITS) in Thailand’s capital could reduce travel times, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and road accidents, driving social and economic benefits of up to US$1 billion per year. In addition, the case study on Bangkok’s transportation indicated that ITS can also potentially result in long-term positive changes in commuter hab
  • Visionstream secures Australian motorways project
    February 11, 2013
    Visionstream Australia (Visionstream) is to deliver the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and communications infrastructure for the Westgate Freeway Managed Motorway Project under the National Smart Managed Motorways Program. The US$21.5 million contract includes design and construction of the ITS system and an operations and maintenance component for two years. Under the contract, Visionstream will be undertaking the design, supply, installation and integration of ITS devices including lane use signs, va
  • Ramp metering delivers - again
    January 27, 2012
    Though still controversial, ramp metering, which has been around for nearly 50 years, continues to deliver substantial benefits, and generally for relatively small cost. Kansas City is a case in point. In March 2010, Kansas City Scout, a partnership between the Missouri and Kansas Departments of Transportation to provide ITS for the greater Kansas City Area, activated the first ramp metering system in the region. The project is located on an 8.85km (5.5 mile) section of Interstate 435 from Metcalf Avenue to