SmartRoads: tracing the limits of managing road space at the metropolitan road network scale

The task of (re)allocating existing road space has been pushed to the fore in traffic management. In Melbourne, Australia, the rise of “network operating planning” indicates renewed vigour for planners to wrestle with the challenge of managing road space at the network level—highlighted by the creation of SmartRoads. Tracing this and prior frameworks in Melbourne’s history reveals recurrent issues related to governance, cyclical debates, poor continuity and competing priorities. The issues collectively speak to a tension common in the road space allocation task: accounting for finer-grained road space use details and acknowledging small changes have network level implications. Although playing out differently depending on city, engaging the tension is central to making better informed road space allocation decisions.