The total social cost of transport congestion in Australia in 2005 was estimated at $9.39 billion - and this figure is set to double by 2020 if nothing is done, according to the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics Working Paper 71, Estimating Urban Traffic and Congestion Cost Trends for Australian Cities, June 2007.
Transport systems that are 'intelligent' are more efficient, easier to use and have less environmental impact. ICT plays a crucial role in providing this intelligence. NICTA focuses on the problems associated with traffic management, infrastructure management and security, enhanced driver safety and logistics support for transport operations.
The Smart Transport and Roads (STaR) Project is our largest project in this area. In collaboration with the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales, STaR is developing new technologies for traffic sensing and surveillance, reliable and secure communications between traffic controllers over wide area wireless mesh networks, new algorithms and models for traffic control and multimodal user interfaces to streamline control room operations.
Driving these technology developments worldwide is the need to address congestion, emergency management, security, road safety and the environment.