Tasmania’s live traffic camera network has tripled over the past two years.
Fifty-four new CCTV cameras have been installed across Tasmania in the last two years, including 38 on the New Bridgewater Bridge and surrounding areas.
Other new cameras have been installed in areas like Kingston and the Tasman Highway on the eastern shore and near the airport.
Greater Hobart now has 134 live traffic cameras, while Launceston and the West Tamar have 24 and the north-west coast has just four.
The Department of State Growth said footage from the cameras is shared only with Tasmania Police and is not recorded or used for traffic enforcement.
“They are used to provide monitoring back to the Traffic Management Centre to more effectively manage congestion across the State Road Network,” a State Growth spokesperson told Pulse.
The department’s Traffic Management Centre uses the cameras to understand road conditions and verify information from live travel time monitoring systems.
But despite the significant investment, Tasmania provides public access to only four legacy cameras around the Hobart CBD, a system which has remained unchanged since around 2007.
Many other Australian states provide near-real-time public access to a large quantity their traffic camera feeds.
State Growth said several server and system upgrades have been undertaken to support further public access to Tasmania’s camera feeds in additional locations.
“More information will be provided in due course,” the spokesperson said.
The state government is also planning a major CCTV upgrade for the north-west, with cameras to be installed at 19 locations in Burnie’s CBD and along the Bass Highway between Burnie and Cooee.
The project will expand the optic fibre communications network and install additional cameras to monitor traffic flows and incidents.
Stage one will focus on Burnie’s CBD, with funding approved. Stages two, three and four remain unfunded.
The department said it is finalising project designs and specifications, with timing details to be provided soon.
