1Policy Statement#

The Department of Transport and Main Roads will limit the display of information on Variable Message Signs (VMS) to messages that are directly relevant to the driving task or likely to enhance the safety or performance of State-controlled roads. Permitted messages and their respective priority are as follows:

1. 1Emergency alerts, warnings of disasters, hazards or unexpected conditions – Warning messages provide advice to motorists about an impending or existing emergency event likely to or already effecting road conditions. These messages can also be used to assist in providing general safety, evacuation and other emergency related advice to the public. Warnings of hazards or unexpected conditions will alert motorists to immediate hazards, such as a crash, a lane blockage (due, for example to roadworks or a disabled vehicle or object on the road), an animal on the road, reduced visibility resulting from smoke or localised fog, slippery conditions resulting from oil/chemical spill or unexpected queues from non-recurrent congestion.
2. 2Child Abduction Alert messages (Amber Alert) – In the event of a child abduction or suspected child abduction, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) wish to rapidly inform the public of permissible details to assist with their investigation by the use of a pre-determined message.
3. 3Traffic management information - These messages are used to indicate the location and degree of localised recurrent congestion and travel times.
4. 4Travel information - These messages will provide advance advice of special events or roadworks which have an ability to affect traffic (generally including description and date/time of event, expectation of delay and/or suggestion to consider alternate routes). Generic descriptors of sporting events will be used when companies have purchased naming rights.
5. 5Filler messages - These messages (displayed when there is no requirement for a higher order message) are limited to road safety messages, community benefit messages and general transportation messages which are likely to enhance the safety or performance of the State-controlled road network or influence or inform the public in cases of potential or declared natural disasters. Community benefit messages can only be used where:

• There is a significant community interest benefit (examples include drought conditions with critically low water storage levels and large numbers of visitors to the area, information relevant to the area about the transfer or red fire ants or extreme fire danger conditions); and
• The message can be shown to be relevant to a significant proportion of the travelling public; and
• No commercial or advertising benefit is given to any person or organisation (eg business names shall not appear on signs).

The following limitations apply to the use of filler messages:

• Filler messages must not be displayed during peak periods (peak is generally 6:00 – 9:00am and 3:00 – 6:00pm Monday – Friday but can vary depending on regional traffic conditions) as the VMS shall only be used for incident and traffic management purposes during peak period times.
• Filler messages must not be displayed when the traffic flows in the direction relevant to the VMS device are greater than 85% of the road capacity1.

• Filler messages must be displayed for a minimum of 20% and not exceed more than 30% of the available time; road safety messages shall account for at least half of the filler messages being displayed.

Limiting the display of filler messages to not more than 30% of off peak times shall reduce the risk of frequent exposure to trivial information leading to VMS messages being ignored. At all other times, the VMS will be blank or in ‘exercise’ mode with displays warning of hazards, conditions and/or traffic management information.