Transport Industry News

All major arterial roads to receive star ratings

Road safety

Transport association Austroads has announced that all of Australia’s states and territories will begin publishing updated AusRAP star ratings in 2024 to ensure that every one of the nation’s major arterial roads has a star rating by 2025.

The new safety bid comes after the release of a new AusRAP strategy and business plan by Austroads members. It aims to ensure that 80 per cent of travel occurs on roads with a three-star or higher rating by 2030, in line with the national road safety objective.

Austroads says it will take on the responsibility of coordinating the program and supporting partners in its delivery, coordinating all AusRAP activity across Australia. This includes reporting, data analysis and training road managers.

“Road star ratings are a robust tool for communicating road safety information to the public,” says Austroads chief executive Geoff Allan.

“The process of collecting and processing the road rating data takes time and effort and the commitment by Austroads member organisations to publish the data is an important step forward.”

Austroads is set to collaborate with a number of industry stakeholders including the Australian Automobile Association, the Australasian College of Road Safety, the Australian Local Government Association, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, iRAP, the National Transport Research Organisation, state and territory governments, and local governments.

Infrastructure Australia chief of project advisory David Tucker says that the availability of road data will make the industry both safer and more efficient.

“Sharing data across industry and government can lead to better outcomes for communities, especially when it comes to the planning and designing of our nation’s major road infrastructure and ensuring they are safer, more sustainable, and resilient,” he says.

“Infrastructure Australia looks forward to collaborating with AusRAP and Austroads to achieve these outcomes.”

AusRAP star ratings are measured on a scale from one to five, aiming to give drivers key information on the safety of the roads they’re travelling.

With each star higher, the level of risk halves, with a five-star rating representing the safest roads. The analysis of this data will help to then understand the needs of Australia’s road network, with the ultimate aim to achieve a zero road toll by 2050.

“Road safety ratings help to lift the standards of our roads,” Roads Australia CEO Ehssan Veiszadeh says.

“Roads Australia welcomes this collaboration between industry and government to share insights and data and publish assessments nationwide. With the road toll on the rise, road safety is a shared responsibility.

“This is a practical step towards improving transparency of safety standards of major arterial roads, in the hope this informs future planning and investment.”

Previous ArticleNext Article
  1. Australian Truck Radio Listen Live
Send this to a friend