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 Freight demand Performance Measure Access Infrastructure Standards Evaluate Efficiency gains Efficiency gains Assess 3 Classification

Local advances in productivity Many advances in productivity over the years Productivity improvementYear Gross vehicle mass (GVM) increase1950s Trailer length increase1989 Introduction of B-doubles1990’s Increases in cubic capacity1997 Truck and dog trailer improvements1997 Introduction of PBS2000s 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 Achieved national consistency and improved uptake of PBS vehicles 6 Source: NTC

Generic route assessment process 7 Lane width Shoulder width Grade AADT volume intersections Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 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

8 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

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