Austroads has published the first version of the Data Standard for Road Maintenance and Investment. 

The project is an ambitious initiative, aimed at harmonising road data information and language across Australia and New Zealand.

The standard establishes a common understanding of the meaning of data collected by road agencies, to ensure it is correctly used and interpreted. It specifically relates to data that is typically used for road management and investment purposes.

This version of the data standard has been prepared following consultation with Commonwealth, state and local government road managers. However, Austroads says there is still work to be done to ready the content for implementation.

To that end, work has started on a first revision – the second version of the data standard is expected to be available in 2017. Austroads will consult Australian and New Zealand stakeholders on the revised version and a staged implementation plan. 

Users will be able to access the completed data standard as a PDF document and via online tools that support its application and use.

The Standard will benefit any road manager who uses data for road research, policy development, expenditure comparisons, funding approvals, national reporting, shared services, and inter-organisation communications. It will also support national transport reforms and has the potential to drive innovation.

The Data Standard was developed by Opus International Consultants with the assistance of GISSA International and representative industry stakeholders, on behalf of Austroads. 

The basis for the inventory ‘as constructed’ data standards has been adopted from R-Spec V3C, which has evolved from initial work undertaken in Australia and more recently in New Zealand by the Transport Analytics Governance Group. The basis for the classification data standards has been adopted from the ‘One Network Road Classification’ system developed by The Road Efficiency Group in New Zealand.

To find out more about this project and receive project updates and consultation invitations, register with the project website.