Rest Area Location and Facilities

Explore truck rest area data by location of rest stops, facilities available, usage level, and time spent at stops.
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Introduction

Do you ever wonder where formal rest areas are located and how often they are being used across the country? 

Rest areas are important for managing fatigue, improving road safety, and allowing truck drivers to comply with regulated driving hours. For these reasons, it is valuable to understand where rest areas with dedicated parking spaces and other amenities are nationally.

Date as at: July 2022   

The map below is a preview of rest areas. Explore the data in more detail using the full visualisation.

About the data

This interactive map combines truck telematics data with other rest area location data to show where rest areas are along Australia’s road network for drivers to take their mandatory rest breaks and the facilities and amenities available at each location. 

Information on rest area locations and facilities is sourced from open data that state and territory governments publish. The NFDH combines and harmonises the underlying data from each jurisdiction into a national dataset. For more information on our Rest Areas dataset, or access to the data via the NFDH API, please refer to the data catalogue. 

This interactive also uses BITRE truck telematics data to provide insight into the level of rest area utilisation across Australia. From our sample data, we can explore which rest areas are visited more frequently. Truck location information is reported at regular intervals. From this data, origins and destinations are defined as wherever a truck makes an extended stop. Where these stops are located at rest areas, they are displayed on this map. Where there are 10 or fewer stops at any rest area, this interactive shows 10 stops to restrict the identification of individual trucks.

Due to the small sample size of telematics data, this visualisation is indicative and not yet suitable for decision-making. We are currently working to increase the sample size and reliability of this data. With a larger sample size, this type of visualisation could be used to identify patterns and trends to highlight routes or locations where improved rest area facilities would be most valuable to truck drivers and operators. It could also improve understanding around which existing rest stops are not being used to capacity.

Limitations

  1. The facilities listed as being available at rest areas is reliant on information supplied by state open data sources and may be incomplete.

  2. Some state and territory datasets have rest areas which don’t distinguish between light and heavy vehicles.

  3. There is a risk that data presented is out of date as jurisdictions may update formal rest areas datasets infrequently.

  4. The number of heavy vehicles in the telematics dataset are small compared to the total number on the road network and hence, not necessarily representative of movements of the broader truck fleet.

  5. Rest stop events have been classified as places where a vehicle stopped for 15 minutes or more and within 200 metres of a formal rest area location. Not all stops will necessarily be rest stop events. 

  6. The telematics data doesn't include information of the nature of the freight being moved and includes journeys made by trucks which might be empty as well as where trucks are being repositioned.

Feedback

The NFDH is currently undertaking work to update our Rest Areas dataset. Please Contact the NFDH team if you would like to learn more, have any questions or suggestions for improving this interactive. All feedback is appreciated.