Road Access Challenges and Solutions More Efficient Freight Operations

National Opportunities Gerard Waldron Managing Director ARRB Group

Presentation

• • • • The Path to meeting freight demand Relevant research findings Matching the right truck to the right road National opportunities 2

Path to meeting the freight demand Vehicles

Freight demand

Infrastructure Performance Measure Classification Assess Classification Evaluate Access

Efficiency gains

Standards

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Local advances in productivity

• Many advances in productivity over the years

Productivity improvement

Gross vehicle mass (GVM) increase Trailer length increase Introduction of B-doubles Increases in cubic capacity Truck and dog trailer improvements Introduction of PBS

Year

1950s 1989 1990’s 1997 1997 2000s 4

Infrastructure considerations

• • • Matching trucks to appropriate roads – The importance of Route Assessment Route assessment at the SRA level The importance of the Last mile – The Role of Local Government – The PBS Route Assessment Tool 5

HV Access at the State level

• All SRA’s applied the NTC’s route classification guidelines to strategic freight routes in Australia • Completed by each State Road Authority in 2007-08 • Achieved national consistency and improved uptake of PBS vehicles

Source: NTC

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Generic route assessment process

A particular route or set of routes is defined Road/route data is collected or collated The classification guidelines are applied The access Levels are determined

Lane width Shoulder width Grade AADT volume intersections Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

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Roads owned by local government (comprising 85% of the transport network) were not captured The NTC guidelines are not suitable for local government road networks Are constantly facing requests for access, with few alternatives or options

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PBS Route Assessment Tool

Where Does PBS RAT Fit In?

Supplements not replaces Local manager decision making!

How the Tool Helps

• National Regulator means a change in responsibilities for Local Government • Goal is to achieve consistency in route classification (access) by using a tool that is: – Suitable for local government – Easy to use, quick or detailed – Support for both near-zero and rich data inputs • Simplifies PBS guidelines for local road infrastructure

System Outputs

• • • • • • PBS Classification Score (PBS level 1-4 a/b) Detailed classification reports, including pinch point(s) Consolidated “published” route reporting area Mapping outputs - route and location Data export linkages through road ID’s etc Additional linkages to be considered in national context

Project progress

• PBS Route Assessment Tool Software – 79 Victorian councils have access – 6 training workshops delivered across Victoria – Around 100 registered users – PBS Network in central Victoria has gown considerably • ALGA – Road Transport Advisory Committee Trial – Participating jurisdictions include Qld, SA, Tas and NSW – Jurisdictions to trial the tool in 6-8 local governments – Interim report to NHVR (6 weeks) – Final evaluation report to NHVR

National opportunities

– – – Consistency in approach Certainty of operations Identification of pinch points on key infrastructure • Linkage to funding – Improved land use planning outcomes – More efficient freight operations 14

What else could be done?

• • • Resource availability Planning for freight in LG areas Decision support tools – Bridges – Pavements – Prescriptive vehicles – Over Size Over Mass – Amenity 15