New guidelines published by Austroads set out provisions for road agencies which provide data to connected and automated vehicles (CAVs).
Detailed guidance is provided for six high-priority agency-owned data sets: roadworks, incidents, variable speed limit signs and lane control signals, static speed limits, traffic signals, and heavy vehicle access restrictions.
All Australian and New Zealand road authorities provide some of these identified data sets to consumers in varying degrees of content, format and levels of maturity.
Data is provided through a combination of agency traveller information websites and apps, and some agencies provide feeds of roadwork data through web-based application programming interfaces (APIs).
The guidance aims to improve capability and consistency between each road agency’s practices for operational and real-time data definition, collection, use and storage, and to align Australian and New Zealand CAV data provision processes with international standards.
The findings and recommendations will help road agencies develop consistent approaches to exchanging data with emergency services, map makers, navigation systems, phone-based apps, CAV manufacturers, and Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) device manufacturers.
The Road Authority Data for Connected and Automated Vehicles (RADCAV) project produced eight reports that informed the guidelines.
The first six detail frameworks for providing the high-priority data types to CAVs. A case study applies the static speed limit data framework. The final report summarises the work.
The data provision framework is a flexible tool designed to help agencies to determine their current and target data provision capability, identify gaps, and plan towards the future.
It also caters for changing vehicle capabilities and evolving data standards, and is technology-agnostic.
The framework allows a strategic and tactical approach to improving capabilities from both a business and information systems view of data provision to CAVs.
It consists of three components: a capability model, a reference conceptual architecture, and implementation guidance.
The capability model helps agencies establish specific target states and evaluate their current roadwork data provision capability level.
The reference conceptual architecture then assists agencies to develop the business and information systems architectures needed to achieve this target state.
The framework is expected to remain valid regardless of the type of future vehicles.
The guidance also provides:
- The steps to improve the management and provision of data for the benefit of the community and travellers
- A guide to implement any desired changes using an enterprise architecture and roadmap approach
- Advice for road agencies to monitor, participate in, and take advantage of the development of international standards.
The reports are available to download here.
The webinar can be viewed here.
