Environmental sustainability, cycling, safety and social factors are becoming ever more important considerations in the development of new projects around NZ, as is the improved efficiency of freight logistics. These and other industry trends were explored in the recent Transportation Group Conference attended by Steve Griffith and Sharon Wilder.

Steve also noted increased coverage on how the transport needs of the future are becoming integrated with the ways in which we share and access information to work and play, especially in areas such as autonomous vehicles and V2X (vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure) development.

The event also marked the 100th anniversary of engineering in New Zealand. Comparisons were made with past engineering ”revolutions” to suggest that this recent move towards the integration of information technology might signal a significant paradigm shift.

How far has this technology come? The video below shows BMW’s new Self-Driving 330i smash Stig’s record round the Top Gear track. It’s pretty impressive.

There is considerable concern about the number of traffic accidents taking place around road work sites nationwide. This situation is being investigated as part of the road safety initiatives currently being developed by the NZTA. Resolve Group has carried out work on the detailed/root cause analysis of the relevant incident records contained in NZTA’s Crash Analysis System (CAS).

• We have carried out research targeting international data on accident types/causes and location with respect to work sites and the resulting injury statistics (number/who).
• This has lead to some constructive methods to improve consistency of safety around roadworks sites.
• The possibility of conducting a survey/s to extend our understanding of driver and industry perceptions of safety around road work sites is being considered.