A number of recent reports and studies have highlighted the importance of reducing congestion in terms of costs, emissions and amenity. The issue is well articulated in the recent Auditor General’s Report, which – quoting BTRE figures – suggest the congestion costs in Brisbane will exceed those of Melbourne and Sydney by 2020.
QTLC member and Port of Brisbane Logistics Manager Mr Andrew Rankine is actively campaigning to highlight these issues and find solutions, ‘If congestion is seen as a problem for all road users, it is a major problem for the freight sector’ he said.
The growing freight task contributes to increased levels of traffic and congestion, especially in areas of concentrated freight activity where non-productive dwell time on arterial roads is a rising cost component for all freight transport customers.
Travel times are expected to increase if a ‘business as usual’ scenario is adopted, if this is compounded by general operating cost increases the competitiveness of exporters and importers in Queensland will be adversely affected.
Whilst improved road infrastructure will help reduce congestion, infrastructure on its own will not solve the problem. The key is to use infrastructure more efficiently.
At a recent meeting convened by the QTLC, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and Queensland Motorways Limited (QML) outlined the options available through the use of an integrated webcam network.
There is already a significant amount of information available regarding the transport network in Queensland; TMR is in the process of finalizing phase 1 of the re-development of the 131940 website which was launched in July 2009.
- Redesign of home page and increased prominence of web camera images
- Map based depiction of incidents, road works, special events, closures and limits
- Currently 52 cameras in South East Queensland
- Increase total to 100 in South East Queensland over the next 12 month’s
- All cameras will be displayed on 131940 website
TMR is investigating the role of transport information in informing travel choices, as part of a congestion management project titled the Information-driven Travel Decisions (ITD) project. The aim for the ITD project is to bring stakeholders together to agree on a common direction for providing travel information in the future.
The QTLC, TMR and QML have agreed to work cooperatively to promote the benefits of this new technology to freight transport users, the second phase will involve linking QML and Port of Brisbane webcams to this site to allow fleet operators to make informed Pickup and Delivery decisions based on real time traffic information.
December 8, 2009
www.131940.qld.gov.auÂ
Traffic and Travel Information
Web Redevelopment Project