Moving from research to reality & rolling out ISA technology across New South Wales.

ISA, Intelligent Speed Adaptation, Speeding, Intelligent Transport Systems
abstract: In October 2010 the Minister for Roads in New South Wales announced the results of what at the time was the largest trial of Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) Technology conducted outside of Sweden. The NSW project involved more than 100 privately owned vehicles that travelled over 1.9 million kilometres during the trial period. Modelling from the trial suggested that if every vehicle in NSW had an Advisory ISA device installed we could expect major road safety benefits including a reduction in fatalities of 8.4% and a 5.9% drop in people seriously injured. The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) is now working on a number of projects to bring ISA from a research project to a reality for drivers and riders across the state. The Speedlink system holds spatially referenced data on the location of every regulatory speed sign and speed zone across the state’s 186,000 km of road network and provides the baseline data for ISA systems. The RTA is currently installing a customised advisory ISA device into its entire shared vehicle fleet, the first government fleet to do so in Australia. The system developed also includes a satellite navigation system as well as an application to enable drivers to report errors in the ISA system to the project team. Finally the RTA is in the process of developing a number of smart phone Advisory ISA applications for major mobile platforms which will be made freely available to all NSW drivers. The broader adoption of these developments nationally, would provide uniformity and greater safety benefits.