Melbourne, the second most populous city in Australia, has been conducting essential resurfacing works at several key locations in the city´s road network. This included fully closing two major tunnels, the Domain and Burnley Tunnels, for 5 days over the Christmas holidays. It was predicted that the closing would lead to major congestion, but thanks to months of planning and the use of combined Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensors, delays were less than initially assumed.
In planning for traffic and to manage diversion routes, Blip Systems Australian partner, Austraffic, placed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensors at key locations. Data from the sensors gave Victoria´s Highway Department, VicRoads, the ability to assess how a diversion route was operating and to report on changes throughout the day as well as comparing journey times with previous days or weeks.
VicRoads was also able to inform and warn drivers about actual delays, both on VMS displays and through the media. By providing early warning to drivers about queue and increased journey times, helped to reduce frustration-driven aggressive driving. Delayed but informed motorists leads to less driver anger. This will reduce the temptation to look for alternative runs, which quickly would become jammed roads.
"We were able to inform the public of delays and show how much longer the drive would take. The upside is that the delays were not out of this world - and if they chose to take the alternative route, we had set out a way they could plan in advance.” said VicRoads’ Director of Road Operations, Dean Zabrieszach.
It was estimated that the closures would increase journey times up to 45 minutes, but sensors showed that the delay only cost drivers an extra 25 minutes in time.
Austraffic Managing Director John Reid explains, “This was a significant closure, the kind that is rarely seen on such major networks. Using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensors provided accurate and timely information which is essential in managing traffic flows and reducing the impact on the public.
When professionally used, these sensors are a secure and accurate tool to calculate journey times between pre-determined points providing information that traffic managers desperately need in order to manage congestion issues.
The solution is already in widespread use around the world and will find increasing use in Australia especially with the public’s growing use of both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled devices.”
The Minister for Roads and Public Transport, Terry Mulder, visited the VicRoads Traffic Management Centre, which has been the centre for traffic management during the tunnel closures. During the visit, Mr. Mulder reviewed the Bluetooth technology that was used and commented, “It is quite fascinating to see how much detail can be provided. The use of this new technology has helped this entire project run smoothly.”
The solution has already fielded interest from other areas of the Victorian government, following the success of this project.