Activity Management Continuous Improvement Cycle

Introduction

All Approved Organisations maintain an Activity Management Plan (AMP), this process provides guidance for the continuous update and improvement of these plans as living documents, and the transition to business case principles. Transition to a business case framework may occur gradually over a period of time as activity management plans are reviewed and updated.

Overview information

The transition to a business case approach within the NZ Transport Agency provides the opportunity for guidance which signals expectations for transition of the existing AMPs to using the business case principles, and NZTA investment assessment to support the AMP. This also requires an understanding of how AMPs sit within the overall investment allocation process.

AMPs include a significant amount of information which contributes to the management of the asset and network, but which is not required by the NZTA to evaluate investment decisions. As a result the Transport Agency will consider support for an AMP based on a subset of the strategic information and not the detail.

The Planning Improvement Cycle process map provides a representation of the process for maintaining and developing an AMP (within the business case approach), including the role the document has within the overall investment and assessment framework. It is flexible to reflect individual scale, complexity and risks faced by each Approved Organisation.

This framework describes Activity Management Plans for roading networks, however the framework is also directly applicable to Public Transport Activity Management Plans (Regional Public Transport Plans (RPTP)).

Application of the business case principles should not result in an overhaul of the existing document and practices, but should augment the existing AMP guidelines (such as NAMs) to provide investment confidence for the NZTA. The following summarises how the current AMPs are represented within a Business Case Approach.

Strategic Case

The strategic case represents the context and case for change if variation is needed – it is the Approved Organisation’s depiction of the current state, including the assumptions which underpin this and the outcomes targeted. The strategic case, comprising a strategic assessment and strategic context, will explain why investment is needed.

The strategic context takes into account the assumptions of the future, the organisation’s objectives , and underlying or umbrella strategic documents (such as the GPS or regional strategies) to position the outcomes sought against wider national, regional and district outcomes.

The strategic assessment ensures that the problems, opportunities and consequences are well understood, clearly identified and articulated, including identification of the benefits and outcomes which can be achieved by addressing it. In a stable network, this will simply be maintaining the network to the agreed levels of service, as depicted by existing performance measures.

For an Activity Management Plan we would expect to see the following information in order to meet the requirements of the strategic case.

• Network context including linkages at boundaries and to state highway/local network, and land use
• Current Levels of Service (which may include mode/time differentiation from a NOF)
• Government / NZ Transport Agency direction, including relevant legislative context
• Council environment and periphery strategy set affecting activity and asset management
• Network management
  • objectives for maintaining and operating network (intervention hierarchy)
  • road hierarchy / road classification (using the One Network Road Classification)
  • current Level of Service targets

• Existing Evidence Base (evidence gaps can be identified in the improvement plan)

  • Network condition, use and inventory (and other relevant data as required)
  • Level of Service  / customer surveys
  • demand and growth measures, trends and projections
  • age of data, quality, gaps
  • benefit/performance measurement, Key Performance Indicators
• Assumptions underlying the document and analysis (for example, travel projections, escalation)
• Efficiency of existing delivery. This may include current spend, whole of life costs, unit costs, procurement, investment strategy, or optimisation
• Procurement environment - fixed components, constraints and/or opportunities
• Risks
• AMP improvement plan for known deficiencies in AMP (if any)
• List of capital improvements (planned and in progress) for infrastructure (if any)
• Strategic priorities based on the culmination of above.

Programme Business Case

The Programme Business Case represents the conversation of planning and considering all possible interventions – it is an Approved Organisation’s depiction of the planned or future state.

The primary purpose of the programme business case is to provide robust evidence that a decision to invest in a programme of works represents best value for money.

The programme business case will identify a long list of possible alternatives and options, develop a range of possible programmes, their benefits, consequences and potential costs, and then identify a preferred programme of activities to progress. Any deficiencies in the AMP (such as evidence base, knowledge gaps) can be corrected either through the articulation of this stage, or as an application to the NLTP to improve individual components.

The preferred programme is not the maintenance and operations submission; which is developed as a result of these high level decisions and developed for more detail at the later (indicative and detailed) stages of the Business Case.

For an Activity Management Plan we would expect to see the following information in order to meet the expectations of the programme business case.

• Modal priority alternatives and options (where applicable)
• Service offering alternatives and options, for example – safety, HPMV, efficiency, tourism, cycling
• Level of Service alternatives and options
• Intervention hierarchy
• Optimisation of existing network
• Programme development methodology / approach used
• Affordability considerations (financial implications of the programme alternatives and options)
• Timing (renewals / improvements)
• Trade offs
• Benefit realisation (how effective the alternatives and options are at realising outcomes and benefits)
• "The offering" of the preferred programme (at a strategic level – detail will be developed in the maintenance, renewals and improvements programmes)