Main Roads WA brings real-time visibility to traffic operations

Main Roads Western Australia’s home-grown traffic operations platform is bringing together data from around 30 separate systems to provide a unified real-time view of the state’s road network.

Image credit: Main Roads WA

The platform, known internally as the Real Time Operating Platform (RTOP), is now embedded in daily operations for the agency’s traffic network operators.

It brings together data from intelligent transport systems (ITS), CCTV, electronic signage, congestion and incident monitoring tools, along with data relating to planned events, roadworks, and third-party feeds, into a single operational interface.

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According to Main Roads’ director for real-time and ITS operations Scott Fennelly, the agency chose to develop RTOP through an internally led model rather than purchasing a proprietary system as it wanted to retain greater control over the intellectual property and have the ability to customise the system as operational needs evolved.

“The philosophy was to move away from fragmented systems and bring real-time road network operations into a single, integrated environment for our operators,” Fennelly said.

By developing the platform in close consultation with operational teams, Main Roads was also able to tap into the experience of senior operators to guide development, ensuring RTOP matched how they worked and delivered the right information to operators at the right time.

First conceptualised four years ago, Fennelly said RTOP was initially intended to reduce the complexity faced by operators and provide a faster, more consistent way to monitor and respond to events across the road network.

Its business case centred on improving incident response times and creating a more consistent approach to congestion and event management.

“Even in the first year of proper operation, RTOP enabled us to detect incidents earlier and notify partner agencies sooner in some cases”, Fennelly said.

“And we were able to get people out to incidents a lot quicker and clear them quicker. Those early wins just highlighted the improvements a system like this could make.”

The platform is also fostering greater collaboration between Main Roads and its partner agencies.

“When there is a route closure, we are able to assist the Public Transport Authority with scheduling and our bus priority system, which is integrated within that real time operating platform,” Fennelly said.

“We can do real-time integration with the traffic signals through that platform as well.”

Main Roads’ ITS operations manager Cory Ross said RTOP’s ability to visualise data in real-time data across such a diverse data environment has been made possible through the AWS cloud platform. This also ensured RTOP could be delivered statewide – a critical consideration given the enormous landmass of WA.

“Before RTOP, people in regional areas did not always have the ability to tie into a lot of different data sets and a common view of what was happening in regional locations,” Ross said.

“We can now provide a stronger foundation for those data sets and devices to be made available across the regions.”

Having achieved situational awareness, Fennelly said the agency had now begun implementing operational control capabilities, starting with CCTV integration, with more systems to be brought into the platform through the course of 2026 and beyond.

“Then we get into predictive analysis, scenario testing, and later down the line, adding artificial intelligence,” he said.

A key component of this evolution will be a Network Operations Data Platform, currently in development, which will store all operational data for analysis and future decision support.

“The biggest motivation for RTOP was to drive productivity on this side and create a safer road network,” Fennelly said.

“It’s about turning data into operational decisions and then building the foundations for the future.

“And because we have greater control of the platform and an open architecture, people can develop this in line with operational needs.”