Vulnerable road users (VRU) face significantly elevated risk of injury in the event of a crash when compared with other road users (i.e., occupants of cars, trucks, buses). The current series of briefs looks at VRU treatments as part of an area-wide approach, drawing substantially on the Austroads (2020) report titled Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users[1]. The series is structured in four parts, with the current brief (part 4) focusing o

Vulnerable road users (VRU) face significantly elevated risk of injury in the event of a crash when compared with other road users (i.e., occupants of cars, trucks, buses). The current series of briefs looks at VRU treatments as part of an area-wide approach, drawing substantially on the Austroads (2020) report titled Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users[1]. Indeed, an area-wide approach to VRU safety must be intrinsic to Safe System imple

Vulnerable road users (VRU) face significantly elevated risk of injury in the event of a crash when compared with other road users (i.e., occupants of cars, trucks, buses). The current series of briefs looks at VRU treatments as part of an area-wide approach, drawing substantially on the Austroads (2020) report titled Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users[1]. Indeed, an area-wide approach to VRU safety must be intrinsic to Safe System imple

Vulnerable road users (VRU) can be broadly defined as road users at a significantly elevated risk of injury in the event of a crash when compared with other road users (i.e., occupants of cars, trucks, buses). Their vulnerability is often exacerbated by high exposure to crash risk in some environments, typically where traffic conflicts are frequent and/or infrastructure is poorly designed or maintained. Pedestrians and cyclists are the two main road user groups addressed in r

The safety around schools short series has so far looked at vulnerable road users and active transport (brief #77), speed zones and limits (brief #78), and traffic flow and congestion (brief #79), drawing on recent Austroads publications including the Travel to School Guideline and related research reports. Finally, part 4 of the series looks at crossings and traffic calming for safe school travel. Crossings Provision and design of appropriate crossings is critical for safety

The safety around schools short series has so far looked at vulnerable road users and active transport (brief #77), and speed zones and limits for school precincts (brief #78), drawing on recent Austroads publications including the Travel to School Guideline and related research reports. Part 3 of the series touches on traffic flow and congestion as critical focus areas for safe school zones and precincts. Traffic flow and congestion Managing congested traffic around schools

Having touched last week on vulnerable road users and active transport in the safety around schools short series (brief #77), Part 2 looks at speed zones and limits for school precincts. As noted, Austroads recently released new publications on this issue, including the Travel to School Guideline and related research reports. School precinct speed zones and limits Austroads (2026) recommends a maximum speed limit of 30 km/h for school precincts, in alignment with the promotio

This week, we commence a new short series of briefs on safety around schools. The series comprises four parts addressing key concerns around school zone safety and amenity, including: Vulnerable road users and active transport Speed zones and limits Traffic flow and congestion Crossings and traffic calming Austroads released several new publications this year concerning safety around schools, including the Travel to School Guideline and related research reports. The current b

Our last three briefs have looked at core NSP components, including the Safe System approach (#73), Movement and Place (#74) and Self-explaining roads (#75). The fourth and final entry in the Network Safety Plan (NSP) short series looks briefly at risk assessment methods and approaches. Seven stages of risk assessment and management are identified in the relevant Australian Standard (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018): communicate and consult establish the context identify risks analyse

The current short series of briefs explores key Network Safety Plan (NSP) principles and components. As part of this, the previous two briefs have looked at the Safe System approach (brief #73) and Movement and Place (brief #74) for road categorisation in NSP. The current entry summarises a third NSP component, termed ‘self-explaining roads’. Self-explaining roads within the NSP Self-explaining (or self-enforcing) roads (SER) are an integral part of Network Safety Plans[1]. T

The current short series of briefs explores key Network Safety Plan (NSP) principles and components. Having looked last week at the Safe System and associated network-wide approaches (brief #73), this week summarises Movement and Place for road categorisation within the NSP approach. Movement and Place within the NSP Movement and Place is recognised as a key component of NSP. Austroads (2026) defines Movement and Place as: A framework to identify the function of every road an

We have previously summarised key aspects of Network Safety Plans (NSP) in briefs #7 and #58. As noted, the NSP represents a strategic network-wide plan to reduce crash risk by prioritising investment in safety infrastructure and related measures. The current short series of briefs expands upon the previous entries with a closer look at key NSP principles and components, including: The Safe System and network-wide approaches Movement and Place for road categorisation Self-exp

The ninth entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], summarises Section 8 of the Austroads Guide, covering the selection of LATM devices. Subsections in the Guide describe four main groups of devices, including: Vertical deflection devices Horizontal deflection devices Diversion devices Signs, linemarking and other treatments Device types and uses Austroads lists the devices in the above gr

The eighth entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], summarises Section 6 of the Austroads Guide, covering Community Participation and Information. This feeds into all six stages of the LATM planning and implementation process covered in previous briefs Role, objectives and benefits of community involvement Many of the warrant criteria used to establish needs and priorities for LATM depend

The seventh entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], outlines Stage 6 of the LATM process, covering Monitoring and Review. This stage follows Implementation as covered in Stage 5. Value and objectives of monitoring and review According to Austroads (2020, p.48), monitoring and evaluation of the final LATM scheme and intermediate stages is an essential step, yet is often overlooked or is i

The sixth entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], outlines Stage 5 of the LATM process, covering Implementation. This stage proceeds following completion of the scheme design in Stage 4. Stage 5 Tasks Timing and staging There are several key factors that influence when and how implementation is achieved once the scheme design is in place. As described by Austroads (p.46), “works may be s

The fifth entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], outlines Stage 4 of the LATM process, covering Scheme design. This stage proceeds following approval of the draft scheme that was selected and presented to council as the final task in Stage 3. Stage 4 Tasks Scheme design essentially involves the preparation of detailed plans, costings, timelines and tasks for implementation. According to

The fourth entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], outlines Stage 3 of the LATM process. Stage 3 covers the development of plans to achieve the stated objectives as determined in Stage 2. The key tasks for Stage 3 are identified in the Guide as including 5 key tasks and 9 typical steps (Figure 1). Figure 1: LATM key tasks and typical steps identified in Austroads (2020) Stage 3 Tasks 1.

The third entry in the current series on Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the AGTM Part 8: Local Street Management [1], outlines Stage 2 of the LATM process, which is to define the study scope and objectives. The key tasks for Stage 2 are identified in the Guide as including: Define and collect required data Identify problems Identify potential solutions Define and confirm objectives The specific objectives should reflect the issues and problems that are

Our previous brief introduced the principles and planning processes of Local Area Traffic Management (LATM), as informed by the Austroads Guide to Traffic Management Part 8: Local Street Management [1]. As noted, the main objective of LATM is to encourage appropriate driver behaviour for local streets, promoting safety, amenity and sense of place through low speeds and management of traffic volumes. Consistent with other concepts such as Network Safety Plans and Movement and