Traffic cameras and CCTV
There are more than 1,000 Department of Transport and Planning traffic surveillance cameras available for Traffic Operations Centre (TOC) staff to identify incidents on the road network.
Staff also have access to cameras from other traffic stakeholders such as Linkt (CityLink), EastLink and Peninsula Link taking the total number of cameras used to monitor the network to more than 1,600 cameras.
TOC staff use this technology to respond to public concerns, assist the media with traffic reports, and monitor congestion and roadworks.
These cameras are for real-time traffic and incident monitoring and as such, no recordings are routinely made.
Traffic CCTV
Department of Transport and Planning currently provides 40 CCTV images to the Department of Transport and Planning website and the VicTraffic website. These images are provided by cameras placed at strategic locations across the network and are designed to provide users with an image every two minutes of current traffic conditions at that location. The still images, provided in near real-time, give users improved information to allow them to plan their trip before travelling.
In addition to Department of Transport and Planning permanent CCTV operations, temporary CCTV activities are regularly undertaken state-wide.
The temporary CCTV activities are undertaken to monitor and evaluate infrastructure projects delivered by Department of Transport and Planning to understand whether that infrastructure is performing as intended.
A range of road-user behaviour data is collected from this type of CCTV to inform this monitoring and evaluation, including, but not limited to, traffic volume, traffic composition, level of service, travel speed, lane positioning and headway.
CCTV Code of Practice
The aim of the CCTV Code of Practice is to define a nationally-consistent framework for CCTV in Australian mass passenger transport systems for counter-terrorism.
Transport systems are large and complex. Transport owners and operators must balance operational objectives with a risk-based approach to use of CCTV systems.
The CCTV Code provides owners and operators with a voluntary practical standard. It also provides a set of performance criteria for risk-based use of CCTV in the counter-terrorism context.
The CCTV Code has been developed and endorsed by all Australian Governments and can be downloaded from the Parliament of Australia website.