The Australian Government is funding better ways to improve the safety of level crossings in the regions.
The Regional Australia Level Crossing Safety Program grants aim to foster research and also improve the data and risk assessment for the crossings.
The Government is already spending $160 million under the program from 2023-24 to 2026-27 for up to 80 per cent of the cost of delivering priority level crossing upgrades.
The grants money will support research to look at innovative options, and also studying driver behaviour at level crossings to better target safety changes, as well as getting better information and risk assessment.
Applications are now open for the Level Crossing Safety Research and Innovation Project grant, which will support research and investigation of new technologies and approaches to improve level crossing safety.
It will also back practical actions such as trials to bridge the gap from research to introduction of innovative technologies and approaches, paving the way for stakeholders to better manage regional level-crossing safety into the future.
A total of $4.6 million in grant funding is being offered across two rounds with the first round closing on Thursday, 23 March 2023.
Other funding of $1.7 million is available to the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator to apply for grants to improve data and risk assessment of level crossings, enabling road and rail infrastructure managers to better target protections and prioritise crossings for upgrade.
The RALCSP is a new funding stream dedicated to level crossing safety, which supplements the existing Australian Government investment in land transport infrastructure, including level crossings.
