A reprieve... but please keep talking

In acknowledgement of the end of the financial year and the pressure it brings, P&I are changing the deadline for your initial bids from 1 July to 31 August.

Regional P&I staff would like to see your draft Activity Management Plans in the lead-up, to help you progressively improve the evidence supporting your programme submissions - so please contact them if you haven’t already. A conversation with P&I will hopefully ensure that your AMP delivers the evidence-based, business case approach we have been preparing for.

Local authorities whose AMPs do not meet the new criteria may face decreased or static funding.  But it is more likely that they will be funded for just one year, with conditions attached and more oversight from P&I.

We know you would all much rather get on with your jobs, so please do have those P&I conversations.

REG wins excellence award

At this year’s RIMS forum in March, the RIMS innovation award was presented to Dawn Inglis (Waikato RATA and REG Data workgroup chair) for the development and implementation across the sector of the ONRC Performance Measures Reporting Tool.

The Award recognises the significant innovation in road asset management and contribution to the sector provided by the new tool.

Dawn Inglis said she was stoked to receive the RIMS Innovation Award on behalf of the REG family and members of the wider sector who have been involved in development of the tool.

“Developing new resources to support new methodologies can be a gamble, so it’s great to know the tool is working for RCAs."

At the forum, and subsequently, we have had further feedback on the value of the reporting tool and how it is helping RCAs to better understand and use their data to inform programme development.

Award for ONRC map

The Transport Agency’s geospatial team has won the Asia Pacific award for excellence in spatial enablement at the Digital Earth Symposium in Sydney, after winning the New Zealand award in December. The team had submitted the ONRC map as an example of excellence.

Geospatial manager Rebecca Schulz said, “To us spatial enablement is about making it easy for everyone to think differently and act differently, empowered with insight that only a location perspective can bring. 

“We attempted to demonstrate that we achieved better transport and community outcomes, increased value for money, better service delivery, improved decision making, greater trust and transparency and greater customer and stakeholder satisfaction.

“It was exciting for our work to be recognised by our peers, and good to have the opportunity to showcase the collaborative and innovative approach we take to our work to the wider region.”

Core vs Enhanced

HNO has been exploring the value of enhanced road maintenance programmes vs. core programmes, chasing savings on whole-of-life cost and better customer outcomes through the ONRC.

Here are two examples where we have found enhanced value:

We are proposing to increase the amount of skid resistance works to close the gap sooner for our customers’ benefit. This requires us to focus the works carefully, and be very deliberate about the use of melter aggregate so we get most benefit from this scarce premium product. This enhancement to the programme will deliver a better customer safety outcome.

Secondly, we have had some modelling done on possible benefit from increasing the drainage improvement programme to extend pavement life. Two papers were presented on this at the recent RIMs conference, and they were prize-winners.

Opus were able to predict where drainage would be beneficial by looking at the differential progression of rutting in the inside and outside wheel tracks. They then estimated the impact on pavement lives by looking at the impact moisture has on pavement deterioration. This approach was validated on site: networks were inspected and there was found to be a good relationship between differential rutting and sites with poor drainage.

The modelling has uncovered the total potential advantage of increasing the drainage improvement programme across the State highway network - reducing pavement decay, extending their lives and yielding better value for money. Because of this we will propose a greater drainage programme than previously.

Point of Entry

Learning materials about Point of Entry are now available through NZTA’s Business Case Capability initiative. They include animation, online modules, face-to-face sessions and information sheets. 

The animation takes three minutes to watch, and each module takes 10-20 minutes. They are more interactive than the BCA Essentials launched in December, providing the opportunity to apply your knowledge in practical scenarios.

They are available to all local authority staff and associated consultants involved in writing AMPs.

You can acquire a license to access the courses (it’s free) by emailing nltp@nzta.govt.nz with your name, title, organisation, and manager’s name.

Business case and AMP milestones

The timeline for developing your LTP and activity planning is getting tighter - this list of milestones shows where you should be.

(note: we have continued to include milestones that have passed as a checklist for progress and a reminder of the process.)

Understand the context for your AMP

May-August 2016: Review current strategy and start developing your strategic case. Complete self-assessment. Early engagement with key stakeholders and begin Point-of-Entry discussions with NZ Transport Agency (Round 4,5&6 workshops).

Resources: State Highway AMP, Auckland Transport 2015-18 AMP, Central Otago DC 2015/16-25/26 AMP Review, Auckland Transport ONRC gap analysis; REG online case studies.

Develop your AMP (timing variable between regions)

August-September 2016: Trial CLoS and performance measures and assess gaps in data. Identify network performance issues (Round 5&6 workshops).

Resources: REG online case study: Maintaining and renewing sealed pavements under the ONRC; ONRC Performance Measures – a general guide for using CLoS and performance measures.

October-November 2016: Develop a programme of activities to address network performance issues by assessing against defined strategic case problems (Round 7 workshops).

January-April 2017: Undertake gap analysis and identify benefits (Round 8 workshops).

Resources: REG online case study: Improved Option Selection - forward works programme optimisation.

May-August 2017: Identify programmes requiring investment or disinvestment.

Resources: REG online case study: NZTA programme review process.

July-October 2017: Finalise BCA AMP to enable engagement in LTP/RLTP process.

Resources: NZTA and regional councils available to advise.