AURIN has launched a collaboration with researchers, planners and policy makers from across Australia to create the Australian Transport Research Cloud (ATRC).
There are multiple challenges in accessing data for transport research: Organisational custodians of transport data exist in academia, government, commercial, representative bodies and others; Data is often not immediately ready for use in research and can require significant investment by the researcher in accessing, licensing, quality checking and preparation for analysis. In addition to the challenge of accessing data, the tools a transport researcher requires for analysis, modelling and visualisation can also be difficult to access and use with available data.
Through funding provided by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) enabled Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) the ATRC platform will deliver streamlined data and tools to accelerate transport research and impacts across Australia.
AURIN will work with partners from across the transport research and data communities to develop access to the data and tools that transport researchers need.
Collaboration to support Australia’s Transport Researchers
AURIN provides Australia’s world-class researchers with capabilities to develop the evidence-base they need for informed, effective decision-making to shape the communities and urban environments we live in.
The ATRC platform is an extension of the AURIN platform and will enable a better understanding of both current and future supply and demand of transport and mobility services in Australian towns, cities and communities. The new platform will facilitate collaboration between government, research and industry to enhance the planning of, and investment in, transport services and infrastructure to:
- make public transport more convenient, accessible and efficient
- reduce road congestion and vehicle emissions
- improve urban mobility and reduce commute times
- improve national productivity and international competitiveness
- reduce air pollution, noise pollution and urban heat islands
- improve population health and well-being.
Data and Tools for Transport Researchers
The ATRC will provide a platform to find, access and analyse transport-related data, all aligned with the AURIN metadata standards. Data curation and pre-processing steps will save researchers valuable time and resources and ensure accessibility to reliable, high-quality, licensed data, ready for integration and analysis.
The ATRC platform will also provide access to open source analysis tools and modelling developed by the transport research community such as: the sustainable transport network analysis tool Open TripPlanner (OTP); transport accessibility tools such as the Automatic Dynamic Accessibility Planning Tool (ADAPT); Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO); and transport network modelling tools such as Multi-Agent Transport Simulation (MATSim). This access will allow researchers to conduct detailed network analyses and mobility simulations to test current and future scenarios.
In addition to the new ATRC platform, AURIN’s existing mapping and visualisation tools will also be improved to enable researchers to explore patterns in urban traffic and people flows, for different modes of transport. Scenario modelling tools will enable researchers to analyse and model the impact of potential policy changes and planning decisions on transport and travel behaviour, to enable more informed decision making.
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Learn more about the ATRC
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