The Intelligent Access Program (IAP) gives local government the opportunity to work with their road authority to better manage local roads.

That was the important message Transport Certification Australia (TCA) Chief Executive Officer Chris Koniditsiotis had for delegates during the opening session of this week’s 2008 National Local Roads and Transport Congress.

“TCA acknowledges the important role local government plays in maintaining and managing the road network and believes the IAP presents local government with a tool and opportunity to work with road authorities to better manage local roads,” Mr Koniditsiotis said.

According to the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), local government owns and manages more than 80% of the nation’s road network.

Held in Shepparton, Victoria, the Congress was hosted by ALGA and had the theme Securing the First Mile.

In his presentation, Mr Koniditsiotis outlined potential examples of how the IAP can be used to help achieve local government objectives.

Examples discussed included helping to ensure heavy vehicles travelling to a freight hub stay on their approved route, and helping to ensure access conditions designed to protect vulnerable infrastructure, such as ageing bridges, are complied with.

The IAP is administered by TCA and is a voluntary program which provides heavy vehicles with improved access to Australia’s road network in return for monitoring of compliance with specific access conditions using vehicle telematics solutions. Monitoring is done by an IAP Service Provider, certified by TCA.

Local governments are welcome to contact TCA for more information about the IAP, and there is also a range of IAP information available online at www.IAP.gov.au. In a further acknowledgment of the importance of local government input, a representative of ALGA is a member of the IAP Jurisdiction Liaison Group

Road authorities grant IAP access according to their individual transport policies. Local governments should contact their relevant road authority for more information about IAP Applications in their region.