Transurban awards funding for R&D for safer Australian roads

Transurban has awarded US$80,000 (AU$100,000) grants to three pioneering research and development projects targeting safer and smarter Australian roads in the latest round of its Innovation Grants Program. Transurban CEO Scott Charlton said each of the successful research projects would trial local Australian technologies to address known safety or efficiency challenges affecting our nation’s busiest motorways.
August 4, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

600 Transurban has awarded US$80,000 (AU$100,000) grants to three pioneering research and development projects targeting safer and smarter Australian roads in the latest round of its Innovation Grants Program.

Transurban CEO Scott Charlton said each of the successful research projects would trial local Australian technologies to address known safety or efficiency challenges affecting our nation’s busiest motorways.

The successful 2017 Transurban Innovation Grant recipients and research projects are:
University of Melbourne for research into a speed sensor with LED lights, which, once attached to the road surface could provide real-time customised signals encouraging speeding drivers to slow down.

Imagine IM for a trial of a pressure sensor made from graphene that, when constructed into the motorway surface, would enable a ‘smarter’ road capable of reporting on traffic density, weight, volume and road surface condition.

Deakin University for the development of a high-energy absorbing overlay made of recycled plastic and textile fibres to cover roadside wire rope barriers, with the aim of reducing injury severity in crashes involving motorcyclists.

“This year’s recipients are researching new materials and technology that could one day benefit the transport sector and community as a whole, with potential applications far broader than our own road networks,” said Charlton.

The Transurban Innovation Grants Program is aligned to the company’s 'Think Long Term' sustainability program. Grants of up to $100,000 are available to support ideas requiring further research and investigation to determine their feasibility and application to real world challenges facing transport infrastructure.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Robust enforcement strategy needed for free flow toll roads
    January 10, 2012
    Timidity has no place in effective enforcement operations on free-flow toll roads, says the NRA's Cathal Masteron. What's needed is a robust strategy which starts big and reduces in size over time, rather than starts small and gains a reputation for being easy to avoid
    Read More
  • Report calls for extension of point to point cameras
    November 18, 2014
    A report on the role of speed in vehicle crashes in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, makes a number of recommendations to isolate speed as a causal factor in crash rates by improving data collection and conducting specific research to identify the triggers for speeding, particularly in rural and regional areas. The report, by the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety (Staysafe) also looks at the appropriateness of speed limits and approaches adopted in other jurisdictions and the adequacy of existing
    Read More
  • Spin launches safer road design competition
    April 24, 2020
    Ford Mobility’s scooter firm Spin has launched a competition to design safer streets.
    Read More
  • Infrastructure funding and road user charging – debate continues
    February 1, 2012
    Jack Opiola provides an overview of the ongoing debate over US infrastructure funding and the progress – or lack of it – towards vehicles miles travelled road user charging. The future funding of transportation and mobility infrastructure is attracting increased attention. There has been sharp debate in the US, where landmark reports from the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission and the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission both stated that the cu
    Read More

Highlighted Content