Real time traffic information is to be available for local roads in regional NSW to ensure community members have access to the latest updates in case of a natural disaster.
Announcing the new move, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway said Transport for NSW’s (TfNSW) Live Traffic NSW website and app would be expanded to provide more reliable information to drivers, especially during emergencies like bushfires or floods.
“We have created a platform which allows councils to share real time live traffic information from their local roads into a central hub, which will give more information to motorists when they are travelling on the State’s network of regional highways,” Mr Farraway said.
“We’ve taken on feedback from communities and recommendations from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements Report to develop ‘OneRoad’, a backend portal for councils to feed their data into Live Traffic NSW so road impacts across local and State roads are all in the one place,” he said.
“The initial 22 Local Government Areas (LGAs) have been chosen in consultation with the NSW Police, RFS and SES with the view to have all 128 LGAs across the State on board by 2024.”
Mr Farraway said LGAs would continue to come onboard in stages, with the priority to be given to regional councils that had been impacted most by bushfires and floods.
“In the event of road closures through floods or fires, they will no longer have to piece together information from different sources to work out what roads are open and safe to use,” the Minister said.
“By bringing all of the state’s traffic information into one central hub we will improve the experience of road users, helping to keep drivers moving and our communities safe.”
He said that this year during natural disasters, the Live Traffic NSW website and mobile app traffic spiked up to 33 times the usual daily volume, with up to 660,000 sessions in one day, “demonstrating the demand for real-time traffic information in a crisis”.
TfNSW’s Live Traffic NSW can be accessed at this PS News link.
