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CSIRO MEDIA RELEASE 95/112

NEW TRAFFIC SYSTEM WILL SAVE LIVES AND MAKE MONEY

Prestigious engineering award for unique Australian invention

A high-tech road safety device developed jointly by three of Australia's largest public organisations is now set to create hundreds of jobs and earn millions of dollars in export revenue.

Safe-T-Cam - the result of collaborative Australian research and commercial development between Telstra, the Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW, and the CSIRO - has attracted keen interest from Europe, North America and Asia.

Last night Safe-T-Cam won the prestigious Rolls Royce/Qantas Award for Engineering Excellence from the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering at the University of Sydney.

Safe-T-Cam is a unique digital imaging system that automatically detects and classifies moving vehicles, identifying large vehicles and reading their number plates.

Located at monitoring sites along highways, Safe-T-Cam transmits information on heavy vehicles to a central traffic management centre where it is checked against other vehicle database information for regulation, fatigue, and management purposes.

Safe-T-Cam was chosen above other nominations for the Rolls Royce/Qantas Award because it has driven the world development of cameras and vision devices to new levels of sophistication. Another unique feature of Safe-T-Cam enables transportation management systems to be networked across large areas.

The system is currently being used by the RTA of NSW at four sites throughout the State with a further 16 sites under construction. The system operates 24 hours a day in all but extreme weather conditions and has a proven accuracy record better than any other known system.

Safe-T-Cam's core technology has been developed so it now has wide commercial applications.

These include enforcement authorities, road and traffic authorities around the world; operators of toll roads, car parks and weighing stations; operators of truck and bus fleets; and port operators and customs authorities for cargo container security.

Telstra Applied Technologies - a business unit of Telstra - estimates the system has the potential to earn more than $100 million over the next five years, most of it for Australia's small business sector.

Austrian authorities have successfully tested the Australian system against a local version; Swedish authorities are discussing it now; and companies from North America and Korea say they want to purchase the technology.

Business Development Manager with Telstra Applied Technologies, Phil Reid, said unlike other vehicle monitoring systems, the optically-based Safe-T-Cam monitors traffic passively because vehicles do not have to be expensively modified or 0 tagged.

"This system adds tremendous benefit to all forms of vehicle and freight management businesses," Mr Reid said.

"It improves road safety by encouraging drivers to comply with operating and road worthiness rules; it protects revenue by enforcing registration rules; it improves the efficiency of enforcement activities; and facilitates traffic management by generating accurate information."

Michael McMullan, General Manager, Driver and Vehicle Business Systems in the RTA of NSW said: "In addition to its positive contribution to road safety, Safe-T-Cam provides a level playing field for the road transport industry by focussing attention on those operators who continue to speed and violate driving hours regulations."

Mr McMullan added that Safe-T-Cam also protects drivers who are being forced to break the rules or adopt unrealistic schedules by vehicle operators. The RTA is committed to the successful implementation of the system throughout NSW."

Ian Macintyre, CSIRO's manager of the Vision Technology Development project said: "The research and development challenge in Safe-T-Cam brought together a team of researchers with skills in sensing and automation, engineering and machine vision.

"Their efforts combined to create a unique image processing system which has great potential for use in Australian industry."

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