New artificial intelligence (AI) technology looks set to revolutionise how Councils identify, track and prioritise road repairs.
The NSW Government is funding Asset AI™, a $2.9 million trial of AI sensors currently installed on 32 public transport buses and garbage trucks across Greater Sydney area.
The new technology can be combined with local weather observations to predict the rate of deterioration and streamline how road asset maintenance is prioritised.
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Victor Dominello said the new sensors were an example of the state government using technology to improve outcomes across NSW.
“The people of NSW have embraced digital services through products like the ServiceNSW app, Dine and Discover vouchers, Fuel Check and Park’nPay and expect modern service delivery,” Mr Dominello said.
“There will always be cracks in the road and there will always be potholes but with smart tech like this we can predict deterioration, streamline maintenance and get to better outcomes much faster.”
Minister for Metropolitan Roads, Natalie Ward said the cutting edge technology was revolutionising road maintenance.
“It’s a brilliant use of resources already on our roads. Mounting cameras and sensors onto vehicles with regular routes, like garbage trucks and public transport buses, ensures road defects are captured incidentally, including those un-reported by residents,” Mrs Ward said.
“This AI technology assesses the captured footage and logs any road defects detected into a database in near-real time, meaning it will find potholes and cracks in the road before they find you.”
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Sam Farraway said road data was also being collected outside of the city, with a utility vehicle mounted with cameras scanning 100 kilometres of rural roads across regional NSW.
“A ute with the road scanning camera and user interface mounted is travelling across 100 kilometres of regional NSW roads to detect and report on road conditions,” Mr Farraway said.
“We will have it out collecting data along the Great Western Highway between Lithgow and Bathurst, the Sturt Highway near Wagga Wagga and around Spring Ridge in the Upper Hunter.”
After a pre-trial with Canterbury-Bankstown Council last year, Asset AI™ is now being developed with initial camera and sensor trials underway across Greater Sydney.
Canterbury Bankstown Mayor, Khal Asfour said Asset AI™ would save councils and ratepayers money and improve road safety.
“We do an audit of our roads once every four years and it is very expensive. This new technology will allow us to do it on a weekly basis instead,” Mayor Asfour said.
“Asset AI uses predictive analysis to improve road maintenance by predicting the risk to the community rather than just reporting the condition of the road assets, and that’s great news for our residents.”
The trial is being led by Transport for NSW and the Roads and Transport Directorate. IPWEA NSW and ACT operate the Roads and Transport Directorate, which is a joint venture with Local Government NSW.
The organisation’s President, Grant Baker said Asset AI™ could revolutionise current practices.
“This initiative is a game-changer for local government to re-imagine the way they currently assess and audit roads to fully benefit from new technology,” Mr Baker said.
“It’s all about putting communities at the centre of everything we do.”
Further testing will be rolled out across regional and metropolitan regions including Georges River, Blayney, Central Coast, Liverpool, Wingecarribee, Sutherland, Warren Shire, Liverpool Plains, Griffith, Tamworth, Wollongong, and Murray River Councils in September.
The Asset AI™ project is funded by the NSW Digital Restart Fund and is expected to be available to all NSW Local Government areas in late 2023.
