Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results

This section describes the ministry's overall goals, supporting objectives that should be met along the way, major strategies the ministry will use to accomplish its aims, and targets against which performance will be measured. Ministry staff and the public will be able to gauge how well these strategies are working over the next three years by comparing the performance targets below with the actual measured results that will appear in future annual service plan reports.

The Ministry's Goals and their Linkage to the Province's Five Great Goals for a Golden Decade

The ministry supports the provincial government's five great goals as follows:

To create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada

The ministry's mandate fully supports job creation and economic expansion. Approximately $2 billion is being invested in transportation improvements over the next three years. Road, rail, transit, port, airport, marine and utility infrastructure will be used to capture greater opportunities in trade, tourism and resources. Major infrastructure projects (such as the Kicking Horse Canyon, William R. Bennett Bridge and the Sea-to-Sky Highway) will stimulate economic development and job creation through the more efficient movement of goods and people and increased tourism. Public-private partnerships will provide economic benefits to the province through private sector innovation and investment. Expanding the Pacific gateway infrastructure and strengthening relationships with rapidly-growing economies in Asia will realize trade, tourism and cultural benefits.

To lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management, bar none

The government's climate change objectives are fully integrated within the ministry's transportation strategies, which include encouraging the use of public transit, reducing congestion and seeking ways to move goods and people more efficiently. All ministry infrastructure projects are subject to vigorous environmental reviews. In addition to normal project mitigation and compensation, the ministry (in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment), invests $2 million annually to protect and enhance wildlife and fish habitats linked to highway projects. The ministry also contributes to sound environmental stewardship by actively seeking opportunities to "green" its fleet of approximately 320 vehicles by acquiring vehicles that use environmentally friendly fuels. Eighty-five per cent of the ministry's vehicle fleet is "green".

To make British Columbia the best educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent

Access to educational facilities throughout the province is supported by the ministry's investments in infrastructure and its financial contributions to public transportation (public transit and ferries).

To lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness

Access to a full range of health care services is facilitated by a good transportation network. Personal wellbeing is enhanced by investment in highway safety which reduces the number and severity of crashes and, therefore, reduces demand on health care services. Physical fitness is encouraged by community cycling infrastructure projects supported by the ministry through cost-sharing. Opportunities for cycling and pedestrian access are explored for all highway improvement projects.

To build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, special needs, children at risk and seniors

Persons with disabilities, special needs, children at risk and seniors all rely on a good transportation system to access key services. BC Transit's custom transit programs, such as HandyDART and paratransit, provide transit solutions for persons with mobility limitations. The ministry also reimburses BC Ferry Services Inc. for the cost of providing subsidized transportation to the disabled and seniors.

Ministry Performance Plan Summary

The diagram below displays the linkages between the Five Great Goals and the ministry's mission, goals, objectives and performance measures.

Ministry Performance Plan

Strategy:

• Create an environment in which Regional Transportation Advisory Committees (RTACs) provide the ministry with informed and independent advice; and
• Ensure RTAC advice to the minister is included in ministry planning, program and policy initiatives; and RTACs are provided with timely responses to their recommendations.

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, and give regions a greater say in their transportation needs and planning.

Strategy A:

• Develop public-private partnerships in consultation with Partnerships BC; and
• Capture value from surplus land to fund transportation improvements.

What is being measured

Funds from non-provincial treasury sources at the time of construction, including contributions from municipalities, Crown corporations, First Nations and the private sector, but excluding contributions from the federal government, which are measured separately. The contribution/recovery from partners and the land contributions is measured against the gross cost of capital projects.

Strategy B:

• Solicit and get federal funding for transportation projects in BC.

What is being measured

The amount of federal funding secured through British Columbia/Canada contribution agreements.

The targets listed for 2006/07 and 2007/08 are currently not supported by any available federal funding. However, the province is working on securing funding for several projects including the Port Mann Bridge, South Fraser Perimeter Road and North Fraser Perimeter Road.

The Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Rapid Transit Project (RAV) is not included in the targets.

Strategy C:

• Complete projects on budget and on time.

What is being measured

The number of projects completed each fiscal year.

Strategy:

• Implement cost-effective highway upgrades that improve traffic flow, reduce delays and add new capacity, using partnership cost-sharing where feasible; and
• Make better use of existing capacity through intelligent transportation systems (ITS) initiatives and promoting travel demand management (TDM) initiatives.

What is being measured

Congestion occurs when measured hourly traffic exceeds 80 per cent of a highway's capacity. While future targets show congestion worsening over time due to increasing population and travel demand, mitigating projects in the Transportation Investment Plan are slowing this worsening trend. The cost of providing additional highway capacity and the associated social and environmental impacts limit the ministry's ability to reverse congestion; however, the ministry will continue to implement mitigating strategies where possible.

This performance measure is calculated for the calendar year, not the fiscal year. The baseline is from 2003 because 2004 data was not available at the time the Service Plan was prepared.

The performance targets have been adjusted downward from the previous service plan due to refinements to the forecasting methodology.

Strategy:

• Improve mobility and reliability and reduce bottlenecks on major urban and rural trade corridors using partnership cost-sharing where feasible;
• Reduce congestion at weigh scales by relocating and/or redesigning them, and by using intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to process truck traffic more efficiently; and
• Reduce congestion at Canada/USA border crossings through the use of ITS initiatives.

What is being measured

The ministry has identified 36 specific segments on our primary numbered highway system, which serve major economic gateways. Satellite tracking technology is being used to record the travel time of a fleet of approximately 1,500 long-haul trucks whenever they travel on one of these segments. The 2004 baseline value was derived from data collected during August, September and October of 2004. Data is being collected for the same three months in 2005.

The 2004 baseline measure of 71 km/hr was chosen for the future targets, the objective being to maintain the 2004 level of performance. This is considered reasonable because although performance will be positively affected by capital and other improvements, it will be negatively affected by steadily growing traffic volumes, which increase trucking delays, especially in urban areas.

Strategy A:

• Maintain the highway system in a cost-effective way.

What is being measured

Maintenance costs per lane kilometre, including the cost of road and bridge maintenance contracts, and an estimate of the cost of other maintenance activities performed by ministry staff. Targets increase over time due to the maintenance agreement provisions for inflation (based on indices for labour, fuel and construction costs).

Snow blower clearing highway

Strategy B:

• Fully implement and review the Contractor Assessment Program, a new procedure for auditing how well highway maintenance contractors are delivering services.

What is being measured

How well contractors are meeting the standards set out in performance based maintenance contracts. Contractors are assessed based on the results of local and regional audits, and road user satisfaction ratings obtained through stakeholder assessments. Key stakeholders such as the RCMP, emergency response providers, major trucking firms and bus lines in each service area are asked to rate their level of satisfaction with road maintenance activities such as snow removal, mowing, patching and sign maintenance.

Strategy A:

• Maintain and regularly assess the condition of main highways to determine which needs should take priority in annual resurfacing programs.

What is being measured

Surface distress, which is a true engineering measure of the pavement deterioration, and pavement roughness, which measures the riding comfort experienced by the road user. Combined, both types of information provide a Pavement Condition Rating, which is the basis for determining highway rehabilitation needs. A 76 per cent target achieves the lowest life cycle cost objective.

What is being measured

The condition of all bridge elements, horizontal and vertical clearances, live load capacity and horizontal and/or vertical alignments of bridges or approaches. Bridges are monitored regularly and repaired in order of vulnerability according to urgency rating, operation, safety and the live load capacity index. The targets allow for a lowest life cycle cost approach to protecting the bridge infrastructure.

Strategy B:

• Rehabilitate the main highways at a level that will ensure a lowest life cycle cost.

What is being measured

The number of lane kilometres treated by means of asphalt overlays, hot-in-place recycling, milling, reclamation, micro-surfacing, seal coat applications and first-time hard surfacing of gravel roads.

Strategy A:

• Continue to invest $75 million per year to improve Heartlands road quality.

What is being measured

Road surface condition assessments will measure surface distress and roughness for paved surfaces. The above measures apply to northern and Heartlands roads only.

Strategy B:

• Improve the road surface on Heartlands roads at a sufficient rate to ensure improved road access.

What is being measured

Lane kilometres treated during the fiscal year will include various treatments such as base reconstruction and strengthening, gravel surfacing, first time hard surfacing or resurfacing. The above measures apply to northern and Heartlands roads only.

Strategy A:

• Monitor highway safety and improve high-risk locations, with input from Regional Transportation Advisory Committees;
• Maximize highway safety and reliability through safety focused enhancements, and through low-cost improvements such as signs, lighting and lane markings; and
• Work with safety partners such as ICBC, the RCMP and the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General (PSSG) to develop a safety plan to achieve the targets established in the Canada-wide Road Safety Vision 2010.

What is being measured

A comparison between baseline measures prior to capital improvements and measured results after the safety improvements is completed. A minimum of three years (preferably five years) of crash data is required after the completion of a project in order to determine a trend and conclude with some degree of confidence how well the project has improved safety. For adequacy of statistical analysis, a sampling of 21 projects across the province was used. The results of the safety performance of these projects will be aggregated and reported on an annual basis.

Strategy B:

• Minimize the number of unplanned road closures through planning and putting in place preventative measures.

What is being measured

Hours of highway closures resulting from unplanned events, such as traffic incidents and weather, which are largely outside the ministry's control.

Strategy:

• Establish and enforce standards that govern British Columbia's commercial transport industry;
• Implement identified improvements to commercial transport safety regulations;
• Work with other jurisdictions to coordinate and harmonize commercial transport and vehicle safety standards; and
• Introduce systems improvements to enhance the quality and timeliness of commercial vehicle safety data for law enforcement.

What is being measured

The out-of-service (OOS) rate is the percentage of randomly inspected commercial vehicles that are taken out of service for having serious safety violations. The ministry monitors the variations from the national average in the OOS rate to allow for assessment of the impacts of road safety programs and the industry's level of compliance with maintenance standards.

Strategy:

• Develop a risk management plan to balance risks and potential outcomes against mitigation costs; and
• Apply risk management tools and deliver training to ensure that internal planning and decision-making processes comply with a risk management approach.

What is being measured

The Risk Management Plan will include a process for identifying and mitigating ministry risks that may have a significant impact on costs and the achievement of goals and objectives.

Strategy:

• Work with the Vancouver International Airport Authority (YVRAA) to encourage the federal government to adopt a policy of liberalized international air agreements that would allow more carriers to stop in Vancouver and either pick up or drop off passengers and goods. This would be negotiated on a reciprocal basis with other countries, especially the U.S.; and
• Continue to press the federal government to make revisions to the Canada Marine Act, to provide Canadian port authorities with greater financial flexibility and to make them eligible for federal infrastructure funding.

What is being measured

The successful achievement of a more liberalized Canada-U.S. air service agreement and the liberalization of Canada's air service agreements with other countries.

Strategy:

• Ensure British Columbia's ports and airports are gateways for economic growth and development by providing a long-term plan; and
• Work closely with other ministries where responsibilities may overlap in the implementation of this plan.

What is being measured

Key indicators, as reported in the BC Ports Strategy, are direct jobs, economic output, and increase in share of container traffic on the Pacific West Coast. The rate of annual growth is expected to increase substantially once critical new or expanded infrastructure is in place. The infrastructure will begin coming on-line by 2009. At that time, the targets for future growth will be reviewed.

Strategy:

• Undertake annual surveys of customer satisfaction and compare survey results with baseline data;
• Use survey results and public feedback to improve customer service processes and procedures; and
• Conduct focus group sessions with individual stakeholder groups to identify specific gaps in service delivery, and determine how to refine ways of doing business in order to better meet customer needs.

What is being measured

From 1,321 surveys of stakeholders and highway users conducted in 2004, a new benchmark was set by using a weighted average of several factors. The results were used to evaluate and compare the overall performance and quality of service as perceived by stakeholders and highway users.

Strategy:

• Implement the ministry's Human Resources/People Plan to enhance productivity and employee satisfaction; and
• Undertake annual surveys of employee satisfaction and use survey results to target for enhanced employee learning and an innovative organization.

What is being measured

Employee satisfaction with respect to improvements in support, training and working environment is measured via a survey administered to all staff.