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.

Related Content

  • September 4, 2013
    Australia’s first all-electric truck takes to the road
    Australian express road freight company, Toll Group, has unveiled what it says is the country’s first all-electric truck. Toll will use the 10-tonne Smith Electric vehicle during an initial three-month trial that will look at how the vehicle performs in Australian conditions, and its operational cost. Toll will use data from on-board diagnostics that can be viewed online to monitor the vehicle’s performance in real-time. The truck has a range of up to 200 kilometres and a top speed of 95km/h. It uses
    Read More
  • July 31, 2012
    Developing an integrated WIM/ANPR enforcement system
    The weigh in motion market remains especially buoyant and technological development continues to reflect this. Although there are major differences in operating philosophies, particularly between developed and developing countries, both the numbers of countries using Weigh In Motion (WIM) technology and the numbers of systems that they deploy are on the increase.
    Read More
  • August 1, 2016
    Latest round of TIGER funding announced
    Nearly US$500 million will be made available for transportation projects across the US in the eighth round of the highly successful and competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. Announcing the funding, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx highlight how this will improve safety and economic opportunity in two US territories, 32 states and 40 communities across the country. This year’s TIGER awards include US$19 million to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania fo
    Read More
  • October 15, 2021
    We need to talk about AVs
    Will driverless vehicles lead to more deaths and destroy more lives than their manual counterparts? Transport writer Colin Sowman argues that they will
    Read More

Highlighted Content