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Newsletter – September 2017

The Road Efficiency Group (REG) supports the road transport sector in its transition to the One Network Road Classification (ONRC) and business case approach to investment planning.

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R10 workshops

Working with the NZ Transport Agency the plan for REG is to support the sector to take an iterative approach to developing a robust business case to support the final bids for your continuous programmes.

While the focus currently is on the activity management plans, Bob Alkema, Senior Manager Investment and Finance, has confirmed that there are a number of Approved Organisations (AO) bids that have taken a good hard look at their initial bids and are telling a compelling investment story going forward. Bob confirmed that there is a commitment from the Transport Agency to have key staff at the R10 workshop to work with AO’s to improve submissions and share best practice.

As bids are firmed up over the next three months the sector must not lose sight of the agreement with their customers to deliver best value for money for the local communities.

Key dates and milestones

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R10 workshop dates

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Digital engineering – an opportunity for cross sector partnership

REG and the Transport Agency have initiated a collaborative approach to considering whether there is a case for implementing a digital engineering approach using Building Information Modelling (BIM) for transport asset management. BIM is increasingly used by contractors and consultants working together designing and delivering construction projects to reduce costs, improve delivery and reduce risk.

We think the time is right to consider adopting a digital engineering approach across the entire asset management lifecycle for transport because of the potential advantages of improved service delivery, more effective investment and cost savings.

Digital engineering is all about presenting decision makers with the information they need in whatever form they want, irrespective of where it has come from so more effective decisions are made. It depends on data and transmittal standards to ensure that asset information of all types is collected, stored and analysed in a consistent manner so that data of different types from different sources can be merged to provide a more complete and cohesive picture. It relies on transmittal standards to enable automatic electronic delivery and sharing of information to enable all interested parties to work from the same evidence base, and to acquire and share information more fluently and cheaply.

For more information please contact the project team at roadefficiencygroup@nzta.govt.nz

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Expanding NZTA specifications to incorporate the needs of the whole network

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The majority of Transport Agency specifications have been written for the state highway roads, with the One Network Road Classification (ONRC) and the renewed focussed for the Transport Agency to take all stakeholders into account, consideration has been given to review some key specifications. Two such specifications are:

  • Specification for basecourse aggregate, NZTA M/4.
  • Specification for state highway skid resistance management, NZTA T10.

The current basecourse aggregate specification is written for high volume roads that requires aggregate with relatively high performance properties. As a consequence, there are a lot of quarries that cannot meet the M/4 requirements which means often aggregate needs to be hauled large distances from complying quarries.  In addition, the premium aggregates are being used on the lower volume roads where non-premium (marginal) local sources could be used successfully.

There is a large amount of information available on using marginal aggregates and a project will be initiated to collate the information to develop basecourse specification that provides a tiered risk based approach and will accommodate all roads from national to access roads

The skid resistance specification, as the title suggests, is focussed on state highways. The major change required to this specification is to take vehicle speed into account when setting the investigatory levels for skid resistance, this will mean that lower levels will be required on urban roads, compared to high speed rural roads making the requirements appropriate for all roads.

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NZ Transport Agency is improving how it responds to customer queries

Leading up to the 2018-21 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) process, one of the key opportunities that Transport Agency has is improving the visibility and consistency of information it provides to people when they ask for advice and guidance.

So the Transport Agency has developed a business support model that, over time, will enable a centralised database of queries and responses.  By capturing the queries received by the Transport Agency, it can continuously improve its services with its customers in mind.

It’s a simple process where customers and staff alike can submit questions or queries online in relation to the National Land Transport Programme, Transport Information Online (TIO), the Business Case Approach, the Investment Assessment Framework and Investment Decision-Making, the One Network Road Classification framework, continuous programmes, the Planning and Investment Knowledge Base, the Long Term Strategic View, RLTP development and procurement strategies. These queries are then directed to the appropriate person for a response.

This support model is part of the Transport Agency’s continuous improvement process and will continue past of the launch of the 2018-21 NLTP. You can find the link to the online form at www.nzta.govt.nz/planning-and-investment

Learning and development opportunities on NLTP

Over the last few months, the Transport Agency has worked to simplify and clarify its NLTP guidance, and it has developed several self-paced learning modules – all of these resources are accessible via Learning Zone.

It’s currently exploring how to tap into existing learning and development opportunities to further support people to build on their existing skills and knowledge.

The September dialogue will be available soon on www.nzta.govt.nz/2018-21-NLTP – it includes information on key dates, an update on the Long Term Strategic View and the draft Investment Assessment Framework, information on training and guidance, and where to find the Transport Agency’s State Highway Investment Proposal which is currently with regional transport committees for consultation.

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Key dates coming up

All initial continuous programmes should now be in TIO. A reminder that 20 October is the date for firm bids for continuous programmes, including response to any issues raised by the Transport Agency, agreement on being fit for purpose, or agreement with the Transport Agency for an improvement plan to be implemented in 2018-21 to address the issues raised.

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October REG newsletter topics

  • Preparing for the R11 REGional workshops.
     
  • Update to the ONRC Performance Measures Reporting Tool (release 10.0), including the roadmap for further development being planned for the next release.
     
  • The release of the next Standard Report.
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More information

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For more information on the Road Efficiency Group, contact us at roadefficiencygroup@nzta.govt.nz

Visit our website www.nzta.govt.nz/reg

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