The geographically distributed nature of the major Australian cities requires an extensive logistics network. In this, road freight via Heavy Vehicles is the most prominent method of commercial transport due to its cost-effectiveness and accessibility as opposed to air freight. But do we know how efficient, compliant, and safe our commercial transport network is? Furthermore, the sector is expected to grow by over 30%-60% over the next 10 years. This means there will be more trucks on Australian roads. Is it going to be chaos, or will we manage this growth the smart way?

This presentation covers two case studies of how innovation and technology are used in the smart transport landscape of the future.

The first step is to understand our current transport ecosystem and improve its visibility. The innovations in Machine Vision to identify and classify objects provide an opportunity to gather data to improve road safety, improve logistics efficiency and finally enforce compliance where required.

Transport for NSW uses one such solution to identify heavy vehicle axle configurations and load to reduce road congestion, improve safety and drive efficiency.

Department of Transport and Planning Victoria uses a similar solution to detect and enforce compliance of heavy vehicle curfew in metro suburban areas. 

Both these solutions exhibit the capabilities of utilising AI-based smart infrastructure to make Australian roads safe and compliant, while also catering to the growing supply chain and logistics needs.