Abstract
The need for the building and maintenance of roads made itself felt early in Australia's settlement. The nineteen sixties and seventies saw the application of major urban transportation planning study techniques introduced from the USA. These set over ambitious objectives in terms of transport network development. More recent reappraisal of these objectives has focussed in the need to maintain and develop our road systems for present communities while maintaining options for an unpredictable future. The criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and equity will remain the guidelines for management of the road system into the future, both short and long term.