SmartRoads Tool

Traffic and transport management play a key role in the realisation of government and community outcomes of mobility and places. Under limited road and footway space, there are often competing priorities between transport modes and adjacent land uses. A Network Operation Plan (NOP) aims to guide public and private road network managers in the integrated operation and development of the road transport network and systems under their responsibility towards contributing to their goals, objectives and outcomes by setting out how these competing priorities are to be managed.

Smartroads tool

The SmartRoads tool was originally developed by VicRoads to assist in the application of network operation planning.

The tool:

provides an interactive planning environment to visualise road use priorities, operation gaps and impacts of treatments
facilitates the consistent application of the network operation planning framework including jurisdiction-specific specifications and standards
assesses road network operations improvement opportunities for general traffic, buses, freight vehicles and active transport
creates tables, figures and reports to support recommended improvements to the network.

Accessing the tool

The SmartRoads tool can be downloaded and used for free. The tool requires a configuration file, which defines weightings, priorities, occupancy factors, etc. Currently there are two pre-defined configuration files available, one developed by VicRoads and another developed for NZTA. Users are free to define and design their own configuration file. Users can download either configuration file and modify the configuration file to suit. Editing the configuration file requires a password, please contact NOP support for the password.

Currently there are two versions available, version 6.2.6 and 7.1.3. Version 6.2.6 was developed by VicRoads. Subsequent to this version, Austroads developed version 7.1.3 to enhance the interface of version 6.2.6 with GIS tools. The purpose of version 7.1.3 was to facilitate the use of GIS tools to create/edit networks. Version 7.1.3 also allows users to export analysis outputs. The methodology and formulas in version 6.2.6 and version 7.1.3 are the same. Users of version 7.1.3 are suggested to review version 6.2.6 user manual to understand the method and formulas used.