DTP Victoria transforms public service delivery with Sitecore’s CMS

DTP Victoria serves a diverse and growing population of commuters, travelers, and residents all over Victoria. Over 2.8 million people commute daily, including nearly a half a million people (more than 16% of commuters in Greater Melbourne) who rely on public transport as their main mode of travel. DTP Victoria’s digital platforms needed to meet the needs of the millions of commuters who depend on timely, accessible, and personalized transport information every single day.

However, the state agency faced the complex challenge of managing multiple digital channels. Tasked with the planning, operation, and regulation of roads and public transit; infrastructure projects; safety enforcement; and ensuring accessible mobility for all residents, DTP Victoria carried one of the most critical responsibilities in the state. Yet, despite this far-reaching mandate, the department had an opportunity to uplift their delivery of consistent and effective communication of essential traffic and transportation information to the public.

“The department’s legacy systems made it difficult to deliver timely, accessible updates. Today’s citizens also expect responsive, accessible, and personalized digital services,” explained a DTP spokesperson. “DTP Victoria needed a unified digital experience that could empower our teams and meet the expectations of millions of Victorians,” they continued.

Not only this, but the solution also needed to be scalable to meet growing demand. Victoria is projected to grow from a population of around 6.7 million in 2023 to 10.3 million by 2051. This means that DTP Victoria also needed to think about increasing the system’s ability to support self-service options for both citizens and the agency’s own non-technical staff.

DTP Victoria partnered with Symbiote to create a unified digital environment and centralized hub for all road information. By choosing Sitecore’s CMS and a headless Next.js architecture, the team built a flexible foundation that could evolve as digital needs changed. Their agile delivery model, powered by dedicated scrum squads and continuous integration pipelines, made it possible to deliver new features rapidly and keep improving the platform in real time.

Using Sitecore’s modular content models and role-based permissions, DTP Victoria’s new DXP removes the need for technical developer support, so their communications teams can build new pages themselves in just minutes. This saves time and cost, while also speeding delivery of critical safety alerts to Victoria’s citizens. Citizens also have faster access to articles and safety information through Sitecore’s predictive, tag-aware search functionality, while real-time data integration ensures up-to-the-minute traffic updates.

DTP Victoria chose Sitecore’s fully-integrated, cloud-native architecture because its scalability, security, and accessibility, meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards and support future growth.

Compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA is not only a legal and ethical imperative for public sector organizations like DTP Victoria, but also a critical step in delivering inclusive, user-friendly experiences to all citizens. These standards ensure that digital content is accessible to people with disabilities, including those using screen readers, keyboard navigation, or alternative input devices.

Marcus Nyeholt, Head of Technology at Symbiote, points to the scale of the technical challenge. “We brought together multiple systems and tools into a unified platform that serves millions of users whilst giving content teams the efficiency they need to manage it all.”

User adoption of DTP’s new digital ecosystem has been inspiring, including more than twice as many citizens engaging with VicTraffic. That rise, from 29% to 62% of users, is especially pronounced for content hidden behind the homepage, which saw a 114% increase in engagement. They also saw a 12% increase in self-serve user sessions.

DTP credits Symbiote for helping DTP maximize the Sitecore platform's potential, including the centralized hub for all road information.

"From the beginning, this project was about understanding operational realities and user needs, then designing a solution that worked for both," says Amanda Brown, Head of Strategy & Projects at Symbiote. “We've made it easier for Victorians to find what they need and that's the measure that matters most in public service delivery," Brown concludes.