Development of performance standards for Australian heavy vehicles

The National Transport Commission, Australia, and Austroads are developing performance-based standards (PBS), which will augment prescriptive regulations for heavy vehicles in the areas of mass, dimensions and configurations. The adoption of PBS is expected to lead to more predictable and consistent regulatory outcomes and to provide scope for the design of innovative and more productive vehicles. Under the existing regulatory model applying to heavy vehicles desired vehicle performance is controlled indirectly by prescriptive regulations. Under the performance-based regulatory model standards would specify the performance required from vehicle operations, in terms of road safety and infrastructure protection. Each performance standard assigns a numerical limit (performance level) to a performance measure, defining a boundary between what is acceptable and unacceptable. A performance measure quantifies how a vehicle performs for a specific circumstance or manoeuvre. A set of 20 performance measures has been submitted for approval to Australian Transport Council (ATC) and detailed rules for their implementation are being developed. This paper presents this set of performance measures.