5.5 Operational Challenges
Observations regarding challenges or opportunities for improvement in current TIM practices from
the Austroads review conducted across the five major Australian cities are outlined below:
Agencies generally have established criteria for major incidents – but may not be agreed
across all agencies. The challenge is early appropriate response, such as crash investigation
and provision of the right equipment.
Staging of vehicles at incident scenes is seen as a challenge as there is still a tendency to
unnecessarily block lanes, primarily for responder safety reasons, which may be alleviated
with better understanding of traffic control procedures.
The responses vary on quick clearance policies. Some jurisdictions have established policies
and consider they have adequate legal backing, while most have yet to proceed with quick
clearance, due to legal and liability concerns.
Use of traffic control procedures for the end of the incident traffic queue is generally not
considered, as it has not been a major issue, although some use of variable message signs
and variable speed limits are being used where available.
Most cities have security procedures developed under separate arrangements to road and
traffic agencies and it may be worthwhile collaborating, particularly when considering
planning for mass evacuation.
While consideration is being given is some areas, a greater emphasis on incident
management is needed in traffic management for roadworks.
Response times by road maintenance operators, due to the limited resources available
needs to be addressed by either resourcing improved service levels or providing other
resources.