Interest grows with ease of access to National Telematics Framework
The Intelligent Access Program (IAP) has experienced record growth in the 2017-18 financial year, Transport Certification Australia (TCA) says, with 657 vehicles signing up to the application last year.
The IAP is an application of the National Telematics Framework co-ordinated by the TCA, enabling road managers and regulators to manage heavy vehicle access to the road network.
With a total of 4,817 vehicles were signed up to the application at June 30, TCA chief executive Chris Koniditsiotis says transport operators are using the IAP to work with road managers and regulators in different ways, using its access arrangements to help improve productivity and use road infrastructure more efficiently.
“As a result, the IAP application is being used in increasingly novel and innovative ways to deliver improved productivity outcomes,” he says.
A major contributing factor to this is the rise of TCA-recognised telematics in-vehicle units, with more than 45,000 installed in heavy vehicles across Australia as at July 2018, Koniditsiotis says – 16 per cent more than at this time last year.
“The fitment of TCA-recognised Telematics in-vehicle units across so many heavy vehicles allows transport operators to easily ‘opt-in’ to the IAP – or any other application of the National Telematics Framework – without needing to worry about the purchase and installation of in-vehicle technology,” he says.
“The ease of activating applications, coupled with the ability for multiple applications to co-exist from a single Telematics in-vehicle unit, has contributed to the growth in other applications of the National Telematics Framework.”
Koniditsiotis says these can include applications for managing speed, leveraging on-board mass measuring systems and many other commercial offerings.
“With an open technology market of providers offering applications through the National Telematics Framework, the transport sector continues to benefit from competition and choice, which drives the availability of new and innovative technologies and services,” he says.
The news comes as TCA continues work on developing a package of enhancements to the IAP, which it will present to the inter-governmental Transport and Infrastructure Council meeting in November.