The Australian naturalistic driving study: innovation in road safety research and policy. A revolutionary new approach, the naturalistic driving study, will investigate what people actually do when they drive, in normal and safety-critical situations. It will provide Australia with answers to some intractable, high priority, road safety problems that cannot be answered using current methods, thereby saving hundreds of lives.
Safety management system for heavy vehicle transport. Crashes involving heavy vehicles result in around 330 deaths, over 3000 serious injuries annually, and cost over $6 billion per year. Trucks deliver 72% of Australia's total freight. The quantity delivered by trucks has increased by 40% over a decade and will double over the next 20 years. Conservatively the transport industry contributes about 5.6% to GDP and employs nearly 5% of the workforce. Safe transport is crucial for Australia's heal ....Safety management system for heavy vehicle transport. Crashes involving heavy vehicles result in around 330 deaths, over 3000 serious injuries annually, and cost over $6 billion per year. Trucks deliver 72% of Australia's total freight. The quantity delivered by trucks has increased by 40% over a decade and will double over the next 20 years. Conservatively the transport industry contributes about 5.6% to GDP and employs nearly 5% of the workforce. Safe transport is crucial for Australia's health and economic recovery. If a 10% reduction in casualty truck crashes were to result from this study, the cost benefit ratio would be around 200 to 1.Read moreRead less
Assessing the full impacts of high efficiency heavy vehicles in urban traffic networks using new analytical tools. Significant economic benefits result from new innovative heavy vehicles, which are able to carry up to twice the payload of standard semi-trailers. In addition, those vehicles have the potential to reduce overall accidents and evironmental degradation. Those benefits need to be traded-off against the impacts on other road users. This research will improve the operation of such ve ....Assessing the full impacts of high efficiency heavy vehicles in urban traffic networks using new analytical tools. Significant economic benefits result from new innovative heavy vehicles, which are able to carry up to twice the payload of standard semi-trailers. In addition, those vehicles have the potential to reduce overall accidents and evironmental degradation. Those benefits need to be traded-off against the impacts on other road users. This research will improve the operation of such vehicles in regional centres by producing: (1) an assessment methodology to deal with options for network efficiency gains which will capture the full impacts; and (2) a computer modelling tool based on fundamental research to quantify those impacts, in terms of delays and accident rates.Read moreRead less
Pedal and motor cycle helmet performance study. Cycling is a form of recreation and transport. Both pedal and motor cyclists are exposed to risks of head and neck injury. These injuries occur in young people and can have substantial health and economic impacts on the individuals and society. It is believed that injury rates can be reduced and an active lifestyle encouraged by improving helmet performance and understanding factors that lead to non-use. As helmet use is mandatory it is importa ....Pedal and motor cycle helmet performance study. Cycling is a form of recreation and transport. Both pedal and motor cyclists are exposed to risks of head and neck injury. These injuries occur in young people and can have substantial health and economic impacts on the individuals and society. It is believed that injury rates can be reduced and an active lifestyle encouraged by improving helmet performance and understanding factors that lead to non-use. As helmet use is mandatory it is important that Australians are provided with optimal helmets. The specification of product standards is also relevant for international trade agreements. Read moreRead less
A novel integrated motorway management system for less congested, more reliable and safer motorways. Motorway traffic congestion poses major economic, social and safety problems, which this project seeks to address through intelligent traffic management solutions as an alternative to massive infrastructure expansion. The project’s innovative traffic analysis and control system will reduce periods of congestion and increase driver safety.
Traffic microsimulation of ITS implementations in CBD road networks. This research project will investigate the advantages and disadvantages of using Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technologies in an Australian Central Business District (CBD) environment. It is often assumed that road networks and especially high activity areas such as CBDs can benefit significantly from ITS implementations. Traditionally ITS impacts have been difficult to quantify due to difficulties in isolating network ....Traffic microsimulation of ITS implementations in CBD road networks. This research project will investigate the advantages and disadvantages of using Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technologies in an Australian Central Business District (CBD) environment. It is often assumed that road networks and especially high activity areas such as CBDs can benefit significantly from ITS implementations. Traditionally ITS impacts have been difficult to quantify due to difficulties in isolating network effects and limitations with traditional traffic models. The project will overcome this difficulty by using a current state of the art traffic microsimulation model in order to test various ITS scenarios in a duplicate of a real world CBD.Read moreRead less
Plastic deformation and failure of high strength rail steels in heavy haul transportation of mineral products. The Australian Government has made infrastructure, including rail, as a national priority for investment to meet the freight transport demand. This project focuses on the deformation and failure of rail in heavy haul lines to transport ores in the mining industry. The outcomes will be applied to ensure the structural integrity of rail infrastructure.
Predictive Analytics and Real-time Traffic Control for Urban Corridors. This project aims to develop predictive data analytics and real-time traffic control and safety models for multimodal management of urban corridors, serving two salient objectives: (1) optimising person-throughput of multimodal traffic; while (2) minimising safety risks for all modes. The outcome will be an automated, sensor-based platform to monitor traffic flows from all modes and make proactive and coordinated control dec ....Predictive Analytics and Real-time Traffic Control for Urban Corridors. This project aims to develop predictive data analytics and real-time traffic control and safety models for multimodal management of urban corridors, serving two salient objectives: (1) optimising person-throughput of multimodal traffic; while (2) minimising safety risks for all modes. The outcome will be an automated, sensor-based platform to monitor traffic flows from all modes and make proactive and coordinated control decisions in real-time. The expected benefits are profound; the developed algorithms and platform will significantly reduce traffic congestion, travel delays and safety risks for all modes of transport, especially for vulnerable road users (e.g. pedestrians and cyclists).Read moreRead less
Improving the visibility and safety of pedestrians, roadworkers and cyclists. Pedestrian and cyclist fatalities cost Australia ~$2 billion/year, accounting for a third of road users killed or seriously injured. Late visual recognition by motorists is the main reason these collisions occur. While visibility aids to improve pedestrian and cyclist conspicuity have been advocated, they have had limited success. We will use innovative driving measurement techniques to advance understanding of pedest ....Improving the visibility and safety of pedestrians, roadworkers and cyclists. Pedestrian and cyclist fatalities cost Australia ~$2 billion/year, accounting for a third of road users killed or seriously injured. Late visual recognition by motorists is the main reason these collisions occur. While visibility aids to improve pedestrian and cyclist conspicuity have been advocated, they have had limited success. We will use innovative driving measurement techniques to advance understanding of pedestrian and cyclist visibility and the effectiveness of different visibility aids for enhancing pedestrians and cyclist recognition. We will develop novel visibility aids to maximise pedestrian and cyclist conspicuity and evidence-based educational programs to improve the safety of vulnerable road users.Read moreRead less
A Robotic System for Steel Bridge Maintenance. This research will bring enormous benefits to Australian community by significantly reducing the environmental impact of civil infrastructure maintenance operations, and improving the working conditions of maintenance workers by minimising their exposure to dust containing hazardous materials. Bridges are a key link that supports rural communities. Besides the 426 steel road bridges in NSW, many hundreds steel road/rail bridges and other steel infra ....A Robotic System for Steel Bridge Maintenance. This research will bring enormous benefits to Australian community by significantly reducing the environmental impact of civil infrastructure maintenance operations, and improving the working conditions of maintenance workers by minimising their exposure to dust containing hazardous materials. Bridges are a key link that supports rural communities. Besides the 426 steel road bridges in NSW, many hundreds steel road/rail bridges and other steel infrastructure in Australia need regular paint stripping and repainting. Australia will gain significant economic and health benefits from commercialising the advanced technologies developed by this project, and become a world leader in developing autonomous systems for infrastructure maintenance.Read moreRead less