Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Road Manager Operations Capability Framework Video

Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Show Notes

The transport sector, particularly in road network operations and management, is experiencing a period of significant and rapid change globally. This disruption is directly affecting how people and industry access, navigate and use transport and road networks. Expectations around transport, travel needs and user behaviour are shifting. More broadly, these changes are contributing to the growing momentum to improve how we live and work, and how our cities function and evolve. As a result, the capabilities needed to manage and operate transport networks are also changing quickly. The changes within the sector can be grouped into five key areas:

network safety technological advancements environmental sustainability and climate change shifting network demands evolving customer and stakeholder expectations

In response, Austroads has commissioned the Road Manager Operations Capability Framework, supported by a research report. Together, these outline how road managers can effectively respond to emerging trends in transport operations. The framework identifies four core capabilities: communication, stakeholder engagement, leadership and change management. It also outlines four operational capabilities: network management, incident and event management, system management, and data and insights. Each capability is supported by a set of skills mapped against a proficiency matrix. The webinar, presented by Richard Boggon and Thomas D’Arcy, explores the trends shaping the future of road network operations. It also provides a detailed overview of the capability framework, the skills and proficiencies it defines, and how it can be applied and adopted within the sector.

More from Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Oct 21, 2026

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Oct 12, 2026

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Oct 7, 2026

Climate change is placing increasing pressure on transport infrastructure across Australia and New Zealand, creating growing challenges for asset owners and network managers. This webinar introduced the findings of an Austroads report, Identifying and Prioritising Climate Adaption Actions for Transport Assets, which addresses a key challenge for Austroads members: translating climate risk and resilience objectives into prioritised adaptation initiatives to support investment decision-making. The session showcased the new Adaptation Action Prioritisation Methodology (AAPM), developed to help Austroads member agencies:

Sep 24, 2026

Bituminous binders that are used to construct roads are tested prior to use to ensure they will perform satisfactorily during a road’s lifecycle. Standards Australia Committee CH-025 ‘Bitumen and related products for roadmaking’ is responsible for the revision of 4 national specification documents and 26 test methods which are used to characterise bituminous materials used in road construction. Austroads has also published 14 test methods that are used to characterise bituminous materials. This webinar presents the outcomes of Austroads Project APT6256 which provided expert technical input into the revision of 3 national specification documents (AS 2008, AS 2157 and AS 1160) and 1 Austroads test method (ATM 101). The webinar includes a description of the process used to update an Australian Standard and outlines the main changes to the 4 revised documents.

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