What in the wierd..? Test the Brisbane AirportLink road driving simulator

We've heard of flight simulators, and even miniature airport simulators, but this new online simulator must surely be a world-first.

Brisbane AirportLink -- the company behind Brisbane's new tollroad to the airport -- has released an online driving simulator that lets you 'drive' from your home suburb to the airport in 3D, to see how the new road is going to make things quicker.

Admittedly, the simulator is little more than a video of different paths along the roadway, and the roadway operator certainly hasn't factored in those times when a B-double truck smash causes the whole road to seize up.

However, it can give Brisbanites a sense of what the new route to the airport will be like, Test Drive style.

Airportlink is a 6.7 km toll road, connecting Brisbane CBD to the airport, and is said to be Australia's largest privately funded road to date. It's due to open mid 2012, and will be privately operated for at least 45 years.

It is primarily a tunnel, connecting the Clem7 Tunnel, Inner City Bypass and local road network at Bowen Hills, to the northern arterials of Gympie Road, Stafford Road at Kedron, Sandgate Road, and the East West Arterial Road leading to the airport and Australia TradeCoast.

danwarne