National road freight OD inference and visualisation platform

This project will extend and operationalise a data-fusion framework for inferring road freight origin–destination (OD) flows across Australia. Building on a successfully validated pilot application in Tasmania, the study will scale the methodology to cover the Australian mainland using a combination of survey data and IoT-based traffic count sources.

The project will produce consistent, annualised estimates of freight OD and link-level flows over time, addressing long-standing data gaps in national freight analysis. In parallel, the project will deliver an interactive dashboard to visualise inferred freight movements, supporting evidence-based planning, investment, and policy decisions by government and industry stakeholders.

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Participants

• Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts
• Adelaide University

Project background

Road freight plays a critical role in supporting Australia’s economic activity, accounting for a substantial share of domestic freight movements and enabling connections between producers, markets, ports, and intermodal terminals. As freight volumes continue to grow, there is an increasing need for robust, timely, and spatially detailed information on how freight-carrying vehicles use the national road network. Such information is essential for infrastructure planning, network management, investment prioritisation, and policy evaluation.

Despite this need, Australia lacks a consistent and up-to-date national dataset describing road freight origin–destination (OD) flows. Existing data sources each provide only partial insights. Survey-based datasets offer information on freight origins and destinations but are infrequently collected and spatially coarse, while IoT-based traffic count data provide detailed link-level observations but contain no direct information on trip origins or destinations. Used in isolation, these datasets are insufficient to support comprehensive national freight analysis.

A preceding iMOVE-funded project (Project 2-033, Road freight origination-destination inference) developed and tested a data-fusion framework that combines survey data with IoT-based traffic counts to infer road freight OD flows. This methodology was successfully applied and validated in Tasmania, with results indicating that the approach can generate plausible and policy-relevant estimates of freight movements using publicly available data sources. However, resource and time constraints limited the application of the methodology to a single jurisdiction.

This follow-on project seeks to build directly on that foundational work by scaling the OD inference framework to mainland Australia. In doing so, it will deliver nationally consistent, annualised estimates of road freight OD and link-level flows over time. In parallel, the project will develop an interactive dashboard to visualise these inferred freight movements, enabling users to explore spatial and temporal patterns in freight activity.

Together, these advances will help address critical evidence gaps in national freight planning and support more informed decision-making by government and industry stakeholders.

Project objectives

This project will have the following two objectives:

1. Scale and apply an existing, validated road freight origin–destination (OD) inference framework to mainland Australia, producing nationally consistent, annualised estimates of freight OD and link-level flows over time; and
2. Develop a visualisation capability in the form of an interactive dashboard to support exploration and use of inferred road freight movements for planning, investment, and policy analysis.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!