Newsletter – November 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.

Final REG workshops for 2017

The final round of the 2017 REG workshops commence during the week 20 November. This is the last chance for 2017 to collectively learn and share what is expected for a fit for purpose investment case. The focus for the R11 workshop will be:

• Feedback from the NZTA Regional Investment Advisors on progress being made in the respective regions
   
• Updating the sector on the latest REG tools and developments 
   
• Developing your AMP improvement plan, and setting the environment for continuous improvement – ‘Helping the sector to be good’

Robust business cases proving positive

The date for Road Controlling Authorities to submit their ‘firm bids’ has now passed. Taking an iterative approach to developing robust business cases is proving a positive approach to that used in the past.

LGNZ Equip Manager Dr Steven Finlay has confirmed that there are some strong bids being presented. Steven said it is very pleasing to see how activity managers have translated the thinking from the REG workshops into their activity management plans. They have clearly described the increasing demand on their transport systems, where the gaps in customer service levels are, and why the level of investment is appropriate.

“I have seen some great examples where councils are prioritising their investment bids and where the one network road classification has been used".

With final bids due to be submitted on 16 December it is important that all business cases are based on robust evidence.

ONRC PMRT Development Update

The version 9 release of the Performance Measure Reporting tool introduced comparisons with your Peer, Region and the Nation.

Feedback is already indicating that users are finding that this is supporting RCA’s better understand their network outcomes relative to their peers, regional neighbours and nationally.

Further development work is now underway. The next version will help make the tool easier to use and understand by:

• standardising the presentation of the reports
   
• adding a glossary of technical terms, so you know exactly what they mean
   
• making the Frequently Asked Questions easier to navigate

The ONRC Summary Report for your network, released in April, will be available for download from the Performance Measures Reporting Tool.

ONRC Inspections Released

RAMM Software has released a new Inspections component in RAMM which includes a function to complete ONRC inspections that REG has supported.

This will help you to collect the information required for the inspection-based ONRC measures, if you wish to use RAMM to do these. Further guidance on undertaking these inspections is under development, and RAMM Software will be continuing development work to provide reporting functionality so the inspection outcomes can be easily input into the ONRC performance measures reporting tool. For more information view RAMM Inspections video

If you have already completed ONRC inspections of your network please remember to enter this data into the ONRC PMRT Input Measures, as well as the other input performance measures such as proportion of network available to Heavy Vehicles.

ONCR Filtering

A number of users have asked for the ability to filter RAMM by ONRC classification, which you can do.  RAMM Software has produced a helpful video on how to use this feature. View video ONRC Data in RAMM

New resources to support business case developers

To assist you in developing your business cases for the 2018-21 NLTP, we’ve developed new training and guidance to help you apply the Business Case Approach. Two new resources have recently been added to the suite of online guidance.

The BCA Q&A tool guides you through a series of questions about factors such as risk and complexity. Based on your answers, it suggests the next phase for your business case. View all the BCA guidance to see what else is available.

A learning module on Activity-level business cases discusses the main areas to consider when developing a business case at the activity level, including the single-stage business case, indicative business case or detailed business case phases.

If you have a question about the BCA guidance or learning, please use our online support form.  If you need access to the modules, email NLTP@nzta.govt.nz with your name, title, organisation and manager’s name – we’ll arrange access for you.

Image: Learning module 'activity level business cases'

More information

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

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