Proactive detection of motor vehicle crash black spots based on their underlying behavioural, engineering, and spatially related causes. Road traffic crashes are responsible for about 1400 fatalities and 32,500 injuries on Australian roadways each year. A significant research opportunity exists to fundamentally rethink how the profession quantitatively identifies black spots on the transport network. The first project aim is to develop, test, and validate an evidence based methodology to proacti ....Proactive detection of motor vehicle crash black spots based on their underlying behavioural, engineering, and spatially related causes. Road traffic crashes are responsible for about 1400 fatalities and 32,500 injuries on Australian roadways each year. A significant research opportunity exists to fundamentally rethink how the profession quantitatively identifies black spots on the transport network. The first project aim is to develop, test, and validate an evidence based methodology to proactively detect motor vehicle crash black spots. The second aim is decompose (statistically) observed crashes at a site into their engineering, behavioural, and unobserved spatial components. The new methods combined will lead to fundamentally novel insights and knowledge regarding transport network safety management, in turn leading to reductions in the Australian road toll.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101079
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,241.00
Summary
Safe distractions? Taking the danger out of competing activities. Distracted driving is an increasing safety concern in Australia and worldwide. Smartphones play key roles in today’s professional and social contexts and current road safety policies based on stopping their use while driving have shown little success. Distraction is predicted to be an even greater issue in new semi-automated vehicles. This project proposes an innovative approach that will enable safe engagement in competing tasks ....Safe distractions? Taking the danger out of competing activities. Distracted driving is an increasing safety concern in Australia and worldwide. Smartphones play key roles in today’s professional and social contexts and current road safety policies based on stopping their use while driving have shown little success. Distraction is predicted to be an even greater issue in new semi-automated vehicles. This project proposes an innovative approach that will enable safe engagement in competing tasks while driving non-automated and semi-automated vehicles. The outcomes will underpin the development of new technologies to reduce the potential adverse effects of these distractions and thus reduce deaths and serious injuries, representing significant cost savings to the health system and the community.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
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.
Passive biofiltration processes for nitrogen removal from polluted waters. Traditional urban wastewater treatment is energy and resource demanding. By combining principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) with advanced pollutant removal processes, we will create necessary knowledge to underpin development of novel sustainable urban water treatment systems. This project aims to understand and utilise Simultaneous Nitrification, Anammox and Denitrification (SNAD) processes within passive pla ....Passive biofiltration processes for nitrogen removal from polluted waters. Traditional urban wastewater treatment is energy and resource demanding. By combining principles of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) with advanced pollutant removal processes, we will create necessary knowledge to underpin development of novel sustainable urban water treatment systems. This project aims to understand and utilise Simultaneous Nitrification, Anammox and Denitrification (SNAD) processes within passive plant-soil-based biofilters for cost-effective removal of nitrogen from a range of polluted urban water sources. The project will open a potential for a new technological advancements in urban water management, while simultaneously providing benefits to the environment and community through greening and waterway protection.Read moreRead less
The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals. This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically ....The effect of wastewater treatment on the ecotoxicity of chiral chemicals. This project aims to assess the environmental implications of pharmaceuticals discharged in effluents from wastewater treatment plants. Trace levels of human pharmaceuticals occur in sewage and urban waterways, but during sewage treatment, some pharmaceuticals can undergo a chemical transformation known as 'chiral inversion'. In some cases, this may convert relatively benign environmental contaminants to more ecologically toxic species. This project will investigate why and how some pharmaceuticals become susceptible to chiral inversion and assess ecotoxicological differences. This work is expected to determine the significance of considering chiral inversion in environmental risk assessment, with applications to a broader range of chemicals including pesticides and industrial chemicals.Read moreRead less
Artificial Intelligence Based Deterioration Model for Development of Bridge Network Maintenance Strategy. The proposed AI-based methodology in conjunction with a Bridge Management System can tailor-make bridge deterioration models for a given bridge authority. The models so produced will enable effective BMS implementation which generates missing inspection records of past years, establishes optimal MR&R strategies and then reliably forecasts future bridge condition ratings. The methodology will ....Artificial Intelligence Based Deterioration Model for Development of Bridge Network Maintenance Strategy. The proposed AI-based methodology in conjunction with a Bridge Management System can tailor-make bridge deterioration models for a given bridge authority. The models so produced will enable effective BMS implementation which generates missing inspection records of past years, establishes optimal MR&R strategies and then reliably forecasts future bridge condition ratings. The methodology will be verified using available bridge datasets of QDMR and GCCC. The methodology is applicable to other bridge authorities throughout Australia and internationally to maintain ageing bridge stock. Read moreRead less
Urban flood modelling at speed and scale. Frequent floods in urban areas cause damages comparable to extreme floods. This is likely to intensify with future urbanisation and climate change. Although Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers sustainable urban drainage solutions, there are no models that can select an optimal WSUD system to deliver on a set urban flood mitigation target. The project aims to develop a new generation of fast urban flood models and the-first-of-its-kind WSUD plannin ....Urban flood modelling at speed and scale. Frequent floods in urban areas cause damages comparable to extreme floods. This is likely to intensify with future urbanisation and climate change. Although Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) offers sustainable urban drainage solutions, there are no models that can select an optimal WSUD system to deliver on a set urban flood mitigation target. The project aims to develop a new generation of fast urban flood models and the-first-of-its-kind WSUD planning tool to support industry and governments to effectively reduce the urban flooding damages. The project outcomes are also applicable for advancing early warning systems and real-time control of floods.Read moreRead less
Activating lazy stormwater wetlands through real time monitoring & control. Constructed stormwater wetlands are the last line of defence preventing pollution of urban waterways, but wetlands often fail, with their passive operation unable to adapt to the highly variable climate and hydrology they experience. This project aims to use advances in real-time control technology to turn these lazy wetlands into active wetland systems, optimising their performance. It aims to deliver new-generation tec ....Activating lazy stormwater wetlands through real time monitoring & control. Constructed stormwater wetlands are the last line of defence preventing pollution of urban waterways, but wetlands often fail, with their passive operation unable to adapt to the highly variable climate and hydrology they experience. This project aims to use advances in real-time control technology to turn these lazy wetlands into active wetland systems, optimising their performance. It aims to deliver new-generation technologies to enhance water quality treatment, enhance urban water security and guarantee environmental flows to maintain healthy waterways. Working in partnership with waterway managers and water retailers, this project strives to deliver a nationally and globally relevant technology to change how we manage water in cities.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0233830
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
Intelligent Transport and Vehicle Systems Research Laboratory. This proposal seeks funding to establish a world class Intelligent Transport and Vehicle Systems Research Laboratory. The Laboratory is aimed at developing and evaluating advanced traffic management and advanced vehicle technologies to improve the safety and efficiency of existing transport systems. The laboratory will comprise high-end computing and traffic simulation workstations with live real-time connections to a test-bed. The l ....Intelligent Transport and Vehicle Systems Research Laboratory. This proposal seeks funding to establish a world class Intelligent Transport and Vehicle Systems Research Laboratory. The Laboratory is aimed at developing and evaluating advanced traffic management and advanced vehicle technologies to improve the safety and efficiency of existing transport systems. The laboratory will comprise high-end computing and traffic simulation workstations with live real-time connections to a test-bed. The live link to the test-bed is a unique feature of the proposed facility. It will provide researchers with access to field data from sensors, videos and detectors to test prototypes of systems and evaluate their performance under live traffic conditions.Read moreRead less