Why change from the old Route Planner maps to the National Network Map?
Prior to the National Network Map the Next Generation Route Planner contained vehicle network maps that were manually kept up to date with the official vehicle networks previously maintained by State & Territory Road Authorities.
The process for manually maintaining the maps resulted in maps on the Route Planner being out of date from the official maps by upto 3 months or more due to the complex and time consuming processing requirements.
With the introduction of the National Network Map the maintenance of heavy vehicle network maps has progressively moved directly into the NHVR Portal. Road Managers now have web based tools in the NHVR Portal to update these maps and publish updates in near real-time.
By integrating the National Network Maps into the Route Planner all vehicle networks are now up to date and immediately reflect updates published by Road Managers to the National Network Map.
Why does the National Network Map use the same colours for all networks?
The old Route Planner maps had different colours for different networks but the National Network Map uses the same colours for all networks.
The National Network Map standardised the colours used to depict network access to achieve national consistency and improve interpretation. A 3 colour traffic light colour scheme is used for all networks on the National Network Map:
Green - approved access
Yellow - conditional access
Red - restricted, no access
How do I tell the difference between different network maps if they use the same colours?
In the Route Planner the Layers tab provides checkboxes against each National Network Map which allow for toggling networks on or off to visually see the difference between one network being on and another being toggled on or off.
By clicking on the road segment, point or shaded area in the Route Planner map a popup will appear providing details about the network that applies to that road segment, point or shaded area.