Transport for NSW (Transport) has been awarded the National Transport Research Organisation(NTRO) Yellow Ribbon Excellence Award for its important road safety transparency work, becoming the second recipient of this prestigious recognition.
The NTRO Yellow Ribbon Excellence Award is presented by NTRO and Safer Australian Roads and Highways Inc (SARAH) to organisations which show excellence in road safety.
Transport has made the important step of publicly releasing AusRAP Star Rating results for over 35,000 km of important state and regional roads, marking a significant milestone in advancing road safety transparency and supporting evidence-based investment in safer road infrastructure.
With road trauma starting to rise nationally for the first time in two decades, road safety – and particularly how to combat rising road fatalities and serious injuries – is in the spotlight.
The public release of Star Ratings empowers communities, policymakers, and road managers to better understand road risk and prioritise improvements that will save lives and reduce serious injuries.
Jeff Doyle, NTRO Executive Director Roads and Road Safety, congratulated Transport for the award achievement.
“I’d like to congratulate the team at Transport for NSW for their unwavering commitment to Road Safety. We are delighted to award them with the NTRO Yellow Ribbon Excellence Award,” he said.
This achievement represents over 10 years of dedicated work by Transport to develop comprehensive road safety assessments. The department has systematically surveyed, collated, and coded AusRAP Star Rating Scores across their network, and for over 40% of the State Highway has conducted updated assessments following infrastructure investment.
Peter Frazer OAM, SARAH Founder and Organiser of National Road Safety Week commends TfNSW for their leadership:
“SARAH is committed to AusRAP’s ‘3 Star or Better’ policy, which underpins the minimum safety standard that every road user deserves.
“By making Star Ratings public, Transport is encouraging amore constructive and transparent conversation about road safety … one that not only guides new infrastructure investment but also helps decision-makers prioritise where limited resources should be directed for critical maintenance.
“This initiative will especially be a boon for local governments, and the communities they serve, by providing a practical tool to identify risks, save lives, and prevent serious injuries on local roads. For instance, where councils lack immediate funding to upgrade dangerous one and two-star roads, lowering unsafe speed limits will provide a first line of defence, lifting minimum safety standards.
“SARAH proudly commends Transport for NSW, because like NTRO and ourselves, Transport believes that everyone has a right to #GetHomeSafe to their loved ones… every day … no exceptions!
“I am sure this initiative will inspire other jurisdictions to follow their leadership.”
This initiative directly supports the Austroads AusRAP Strategy, which commits to publishing Star Rating results for all major arterial roads nationally by 2025. The plan sets an ambitious target. By 2030,at least 80% of travel should occur on roads rated 3 stars or better, as partof Australia's vision for zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads by2050.
Transport’s leadership in making these results publicly available will benefit communities across New South Wales.
Transport joins Bundaberg Regional Council as recipients of a NTRO Yellow Ribbon Excellence Award.
The NTRO Yellow Ribbon Excellence Award was officially presented to Transport Deputy Secretary, Safety, Policy, Environment & Regulation, Sally Webb, at a special function in Sydney on Thursday, September 4.
