Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results — Continued

Goal 1: Key transportation infrastructure is improved to drive economic growth and trade.

Core Business Area:

Transportation Improvements.

Objective 1:

Regional and local input is used when setting transportation priorities.

Strategies:

1. Create an environment in which Regional Transportation Advisory Committees (RTACs) provide the ministry with informed and independent advice.

2. Incorporate RTAC advice to the Minister in ministry planning.

What is being measured: The RTACs will provide annual reports to the minister documenting their activities and recommendations. These reports will identify regional needs and transportation priorities. The successful incorporation of RTAC input will fulfill the overall government commitment to give regions a greater say in their transportation needs and planning.

Objective 2:

Available provincial investment dollars are used as effectively as possible.

Strategies:

1. Develop public-private partnerships, in consultation with Partnerships BC.

2. Capture value from surplus land to fund transportation improvements.

What is being measured: The measure for investments leveraged equals funds contributed from non-provincial treasury sources at the time of construction. These include contributions from municipalities, Crown corporations, First Nations and the private sector, but exclude contributions from the federal government, which are measured separately. The contribution/recovery from partners and the land contribution by the province are measured against the gross cost of the capital project. The ministry's success will be measured by the amount of non-provincial funding obtained.

Note: The targets shown above have been revised downward from those indicated in the previous service plan as a result of the provincial government's decision not to proceed with a proposal to lease the Coquihalla Highway to a private partner.

Strategies:

1. Participate in the federal border infrastructure fund program to improve major trade corridors in the lower mainland serving border crossings and national gateways.

2. Pursue delivery of the Fraser Gateway program through a private sector partnership.

3. Focus cost-shared investment in areas of economic and trade opportunity.

What is being measured: The above figures refer to the amount of federal funding secured through B.C./Canada contribution agreements. The amount of funding from the federal government will assist in B.C.'s ability to achieve longer term sustainable financing for transportation improvements. The ministry's ability to leverage federal funding is dependent on B.C. government decisions with respect to the availability of matching provincial funding, and federal funding allocation and prioritization practices.

Strategy:

1. Complete projects on budget and on time, using the best project management practices.

What is being measured: All projects encompassed under the capital program will be aggregated each fiscal year to compare 1) the planned to actual cost of the projects, and 2) the scheduled to actual progress of the projects.

Objective 3:

The worsening congestion trend in urban areas is mitigated.

Strategies:

1. Implement cost effective highway upgrades that improve traffic flow, reduce delay-causing crashes and add new capacity, using partnership cost-sharing where feasible.

2. Make better use of existing capacity through intelligent transportation systems initiatives and promoting travel demand management initiatives.

3. Balance landowner access to main highways with the mobility needs of long-distance users.

What is being measured: Segments of the highway system are categorized as urban or rural. Previous calculations for the rural congestion rate resulted in very low rates of congestion, so the reporting emphasis is now on urban areas where congestion is a growing problem. A congested condition occurs when the measured hourly traffic volume exceeds 80 per cent of the highway's capacity. Future targets show congestion worsening over time due to increasing population and travel demand. The cost of providing additional highway capacity and the associated social and environmental impacts of doing same limit the ministry's ability to reverse the congestion trend; however, the ministry will continue to implement strategies to mitigate this problem.

Note: 2003 data will not be available until April 2004, therefore the baseline measure for traffic congestion is from 2002 data. Targets for this measure refer to the calendar and not fiscal year (i.e. the 2004/05 target encompasses the period from January to December 2004).

This chart is provided for general information and reference. The top line is an estimate of the projected deterioration of performance, due to increasing demand, if the ministry does nothing to improve urban congestion. The bottom line illustrates that, although urban congestion is expected to worsen in future years, the ministry's strategies for dealing with congestion will be effective at reducing the rate of deterioration.

Objective 4:

Improved mobility for highways servicing major economic gateways.

Strategies:

1. Improve mobility and reliability and reduce bottlenecks on major urban and rural trade corridors using partnership cost-sharing where feasible.

2. Reduce congestion at weigh scales by relocating them, redesigning them, and/or using new technologies with intelligent transportation systems to process truck traffic more efficiently.

What is being measured: The ministry will measure truck travel time on specific highway segments which serve major economic gateways using data obtained through existing satellite tracking technology. Data capture is anticipated to commence in early 2004.

Note: The previous service plan included this objective: "A practical long-term framework for an integrated, multi-modal transportation system in B.C." This objective will be achieved once the strategic framework document is in place by March 31, 2004. The published document will remain a priority to the ministry and will provide a framework for ongoing transportation initiatives throughout the province.