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

  • January 20, 2022
    Oakland's Universal Basic Mobility is in credit
    Pre-paid cards can be used by residents to buy passes for transit, bike-share and e-scooters
    Read More
  • October 10, 2014
    Australia’s congestion may force use of road user pricing
    Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting this week, chief executive of toll road operator Transurban, Scott Charlton, claimed that there will come a time when Australia’s roads can no longer be widened to alleviate increasing congestion. He told shareholders that policy reform around infrastructure will be an increasing focus of stakeholders to ensure the most efficient and fair use of transport networks. “As we have said before, it is clear that we cannot simply keep building out the network
    Read More
  • May 29, 2025
    Asecap Days 2025: 'Vision Zero is not a number, it’s about a culture'
    Saving lives and saving road infrastructure were two of the topics at the second and last day of the annual conference of Asecap, the European road tolling association, in Spanish capital Madrid
    Read More
  • February 3, 2012
    Detection analysis technology successfully predicts traffic flows
    David Crawford investigates new detection analysis technology from IBM. Locations on both the East and West Coasts of the US are scheduled for early deployments of IBM's new Traffic Prediction Tool (TPT) statistical analysis model for the fine-time resolution and near-term prediction of road flow conditions. Developed by IBM's Watson Research Laboratories, TPT is designed to analyse data from the the key detection indicators - average vehicle volumes and speeds passing a location in a given time interval -
    Read More

Highlighted Content