Addressing outer urban road safety in Metropolitan Melbourne

The purpose of this study was to identify road safety issues specific to Outer Urban Areas (OUAs) of Melbourne, and to provide recommendations and estimated benefits of proposed strategies for addressing high priority areas. To achieve this aim the project was divided into five5 complementary phases. Phase 1 focussed on collecting the available data sources on which to assess the current and predicted demographic, land-use and transport changes, and potential contributing factors to crash risk in these areas as well as the greater Melbourne metropolitan area and state-wide for comparison. Phase 2 derived a consistent definition for OUAs of Melbourne for the purposes of conducting a comparative analysis of crash trends with other regions of Melbourne and the state. In Phase 3, a comprehensive analysis of all data identified and classified by area in Phases 1 and 2 was undertaken to quantify crash problems and trends and understand the relative risks and absolute rates of crashes in the OUAs compared with inner urban areas (IUAs) of metropolitan Melbourne, regional areas and the state as a whole. The purpose of Phase 4 was to determine whether investments in road safety were being appropriately targeted at problems specific to outer urban areas. The purpose of the final phase was to determine how future projected and required investment in outer urban areas (Phase 4) could be best targeted against key road safety issues (identified in Phases 3 and 4) to meet road safety targets. Analysis identified a number of road safety problems prominent in outer urban areas including crashes on local roads, crashes in high speed zone areas, intersection crashes, run off road and head on crashes and crashes involving older, less safe vehicles. The eMETS (Macro Estimates for Target Setting) modelling technique was used to estimate the benefits of a number of initiatives to address the identified road safety problems including speed limit reductions, intersection black spot treatments, roadside barrier treatments and the uptake of safer vehicles. The potential of enhanced safety strategies for local roads by outer urban Melbourne councils was also identified.

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  • Corporate Authors:

    Monash University. Accident Research Centre (MUARC)

    Monash University Accident Research Centre, Building 70, Monash University, Victoria, 3800, Australia
    Clayton, Victoria   
  • Authors:
    • Newstead, S
    • Logan, D
    • Budd, L
    • Oxley, J
    • Allen, T
  • Publication Date: 2021-8

Media Info

  • Pagination: 56p
  • Serial:
    • Issue Number: 356

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01781284
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: ARRB Group Limited
  • ISBN: 9781925413267
  • Files: ITRD, ATRI
  • Created Date: Sep 2 2021 2:51PM