Preparing a transport programme for input to the RLTP and developing activities for funding approval – general guidance

Introduction

This section sets out the general guidance for Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) to prepare their transport programmes for input to the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. ) and also in developing their activities for funding approval.

Note:   

The criteria that apply to activities proposed for inclusion in an RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. and the National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. (NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied ) are less stringent than those that apply to activities for which funding approval is sought.

This means that activities may be proposed for inclusion in an RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. or the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied at an early stage of their development, while activities proposed for funding need to be developed sufficiently to enable funding approval. The following guidance covers both situations of programme inclusion and funding approval, and judgement is required as to the detail to which it is to be applied in each situation.

Transport Agency’s Planning and investment principles

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are expected to apply the Transport Agency’s planning and investment principles, upon which the Transport Agency makes its planning, investment, programming and funding approval and policy decisions, in developing their transport programmes and activities.

Development path

Approved Organisations’ and the Transport Agency’s (state highways) activities proposed for inclusion in an RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. are expected to derive from strategies, packages and/or plans.

Transport Agency policy requires that, as a rule, any large project An improvement project with a cost of more than $5 million. over $20 million estimated construction cost that is proposed for investigation funding will be derived from a strategy formally supported by the Transport Agency. Such a project that is part of a strategy and is yet to be supported may be included in the programme, which should also include a transport planning activity covering the development of the associated strategy.

Structure of programme

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) should structure their transport programmes by:

• Activity class - which will be largely managed through the use of the correct Transport Investment Online module.
• Programmes – comprising routine, low risk activities that are delivered in a reasonably continuous manner, e.g. Maintenance and operations programme.
• Improvement projects of over $300,00 estimated construction cost that are set up as stand alone projects in Transport Investment Online.
• As a rule, no projects under $300,000 construction cost should be developed as a stand alone project unless it is part of a package or a Road Safety Promotion activity.
• Minor improvement projects of less than $300,000 estimated total cost for approval. Each Approved Organisation and Transport Agency(state highways) region will receive a base funding allocation of 5% of their approved maintenance or public transport services programmes, as the case may be. The minor improvements will be treated as a combination of activities for assessment and prioritisation in the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied . However, Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) will be expected to demonstrate that the activities they select for inclusion in their programme will deliver value for money Selecting the right things to do, implementing them in the right way, at the right time and for the right price. and have been prioritised against the Transport Agency’s Investment and Revenue Strategy. The Transport Agency(planning and investment) may enter into negotiations with Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) to increase the funding allocation above 5%, where value for money of the enlarged programme can be clearly demonstrated. Minor improvements Improvement projects (both roading and PT The carriage of passengers for hire or reward by means of vehicles as defined in section 5 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003.
  http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0118/latest/DLM226238.html?search=ts_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_land+transport+management+act_resel_25_a&p=1 ) of $300,00 (was $250,000 for the 2012-15 NLTP) cost or less than are within the definition of existing improvements work categories. Minor improvements are delivered as a programme with block funding under delegated authority. will be entered into Transport Investment Online as a single item accompanied by a list of known projects that will be updated regularly through the NLTP period.

Evidence based justification

Justification for all activities or combinations of activities that are proposed for funding assistance from the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied must be supported by robust evidence.  This needs to be demonstrated during programme negotiation with the Transport Agency.

Robust evidence will be provided from Transport Investment Online fields and attached supporting information, including strategies, business cases, activity management plans, regional passenger transport plans, project feasibility reports, scheme assessment reports, economic evaluation worksheets, etc.

A set of templates have been developed which describe Transport Agency's area of interest for specific project types. These will assist Approved Organisations/Transport Agency(state highways) to proactively take these factors into account when developing strategies, programmes, projects and related business cases and plans. The information guide templates overview provides links to the templates and explains how they are used.

Assessment profile

Each activity, or combination of activities, will be assessed by the Transport Agency, using the Transport Agency’s Assessment Framework. The assessment determines an assessment profile to ascertain the activity’s priority for inclusion and programming in the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied .

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) should use the Transport Agency’s Assessment Framework to determine the assessment profiles of their activities, and to inform their decisions as to whether or not to submit activities for inclusion in the RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. .

Prioritisation

The Transport Agency’s prioritisation of activities for programming in the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied utilises the priority order table, which sets out the assessment profiles in descending order of profile.  Details of the Transport Agency’s threshold for funding activities in the 2015-18 NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied are provided in the Prioritisation of activities page.

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) should consider the assessment profiles of their activities in relation to the Transport Agency’s priority order table to inform their decisions, as to whether or not to submit activities for inclusion in the RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. .

Options and alternatives A strategic option that may encompass a mix of modes and/or high level routes and/or land use options. Alternatives would be considered during strategy development, with the preferred alternative being selected and taken through into package and project development.

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are required to consider all feasible options and alternatives A strategic option that may encompass a mix of modes and/or high level routes and/or land use options. Alternatives would be considered during strategy development, with the preferred alternative being selected and taken through into package and project development. in the development of their activities.

Alternatives are strategic options, e.g. what mode or modal mix is most appropriate or what major route is best?  These should be considered and the preferred alternative selected as part of strategy development for large, complex improvement activities or as part of activity management planning for more routine, simpler activities.

Options are considered at an activity level and are concerned with the form or macroscope The information required for the "notice of requirement" under the Resource Management Act 1991, reflecting the scope of the preferred option selected for an improvement project. of the solution, e.g. should a new road comprise 2, 3 or 4 lanes or what frequency of service should be preferred for new public transport services?

Optimisation

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are expected to optimise their activities, groups and packages of activities and programmes as part of developing their transport programmes and activities for funding approval. Optimisation comprises:

• At an activity level – option identification and selection of preferred macroscope The information required for the "notice of requirement" under the Resource Management Act 1991, reflecting the scope of the preferred option selected for an improvement project. . This may involve use multi-criteria analysis to short list options and should involve incremental assessment to select the preferred option, as well as using First Year Rate of Return (FYRR A calculation used to indicate the best start date for activities. For further information see the NZTA's Economic Evaluation Manual. ) to help inform timing decisions.
• At a package level – sequencing and programming of activities within the package to achieve best value for money Selecting the right things to do, implementing them in the right way, at the right time and for the right price. . Considers economic efficiency, operational and network effectiveness and efficiency, and procurement costs.
• At a programme level – sequencing and programming of components and relative scale of components to achieve efficient allocation of resources over time and best value for money Selecting the right things to do, implementing them in the right way, at the right time and for the right price. . Considers value for money criteria as set out in the assessment profile The three-part rating for an activity, rated as high, medium or low e.g. HMM, and representing the assessment for Strategic Fit, Effectiveness, and Benefit and Cost Appraisal respectively. .

Integration

Integration involves the interaction of proposed transport activities amongst:

• Land uses
• Networks
• Organisations
• Existing and proposed transport activities, and/or
• Non transport activities.

Integrated planning is the cornerstone of achieving integration and is covered in the Integrated planning section of this Knowledge Base.

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are expected to consider integration when optimising their activities, combinations of activities and programmes. The Transport Agency assesses the level of integration achieved as part of its assessment of the effectiveness of activities to determine their assessment profiles.

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are encouraged to use the effectiveness criteria set out in the Transport Agency’s Assessment Framework to consider how well their activities have been integrated prior to submitting them to an RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. .

Incremental assessment

Incremental assessment involves the evaluation of differences in effectiveness and efficiency amongst mutually exclusive investment options, including proposed changes in scope to endorsed macroscopes. The incremental assessment informs the investment decision, e.g. which option should be selected as the preferred option.

The Transport Agency’s assessment framework is to be used to determine incremental assessment profiles.

The Transport Agency requires incremental assessment to be applied to all investment decisions involving option selection or changes to endorsed macroscopes for any activity where funding is being sought or has been approved from the NLTF The fund established under section 10 of the LTMA .

Sources of funding

Approved Organisations, the Transport Agency(state highways) and Regional Transport Committees may propose the sources of funding for activities they include in their transport programmes and RLTPs Regional land transport plans, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. , based on the criteria that apply to the sources.

The Transport Agency will make the final decision as to which source of funding will be applied to assist the activity when it comes forward for funding approval. In some cases the decision may be applied retrospectively to ensure compliance with Transport Agency policy, e.g. R funds Funds from a 5 cent per litre increase in fuel excise duty and an equivalent increase in road user charges for light vehicles, to be distributed regionally on the basis of population (with Auckland receiving 35 percent of the total collected) for 10 years from April 2005. R funds are to be allocated to the highest priority projects in a region ahead of N (nationally distributed) funds. policy.

General requirements

This section describes the general requirements that Approved Organisations and Transport Agency(state highways) need to follow in developing their activities and programmes.

Most of these requirements are at the activity rather than programme level and are needed for the Transport Agency’s consideration of funding approval rather than for inclusion in the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied .

However, if activities are being proposed for funding approval as well as for inclusion in the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied when it is approved by the Transport Agency, then the requirements do need to be considered for those activities.

Safety audits

The Transport Agency requires that a safety audit procedure must be applied to the development of any improvement or renewal activity that involves vehicular traffic, and/or walking and/or cycling, proposed for funding assistance from the NLTP A National Land Transport Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. adopted by the NZTA under section 19 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied . It does not apply to auditing of the existing network or specialist applications, such as traffic control at roadwork sites.

Safety audits must be undertaken at key stages of a project’s development (see section 6 of the Road safety audit procedures for projects (Transport Agency May 2013) for when to undertake a road safety audit). The latest audit report and the project manager’s response to issues are to be attached to any Transport Investment Online funding application.

If the project manager considers there is justification for not conducting a safety audit at a particular stage, then they must complete an exemption declaration for that stage, keep it on file for audit purposes and attach it to any Transport Investment Online funding application.

Road safety audit procedures for projects (Transport Agency May 2013) provides guidance in relation to road safety audits. It includes a sample completed audit form a sample completed exemption form and checklists.

Cost estimation

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are expected to provide robust cost estimates for their activities prepared by competent people. The cost estimation process should follow the principles set out in the Transport Agency’s Cost Estimation Manual, SM014

Where risk analysis is required to provide 5^th and 95^th percentile cost estimates, the results are expected to reflect the project phase and type of cost estimate, e.g. a feasibility estimate would be expected to have a much wider range around the expected estimate than a construction estimate.

The cost estimate is to be uploaded to the Transport Investment Online funding application as supporting information.

Peer review

The Transport Agency requires that all improvement and renewal projects over $5 million estimated construction cost shall be peer reviewed by an independent, external peer reviewer prior to it making its investment decision. The peer review will consider strategic fit, cost estimation and evaluation of economic efficiency and effectiveness, with a focus that is appropriate for the stage/phase under review.

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are encouraged to have improvement and renewal projects of between $1 million and $5 million estimated construction cost externally peer reviewed if they consider that the risks around cost estimation and economic evaluation are high and there is a need to check the robustness of estimates and assumptions. In any event, all improvement and renewal projects of less than $5 million estimated construction costs are to be internally peer reviewed.

The Transport Agency reserves the right to require any project to be externally peer reviewed by a peer reviewer/reviewing panel of its choice prior to making its investment decision.

The peer review shall be uploaded to the Transport Investment Online funding application.

Parallel cost estimate

The Transport Agency requires that all improvement projects over $20 million estimated construction cost will be subject to a parallel cost estimation process as set out in the Transport Agency’s Cost Estimation Manual, SM014

A summary of the parallel cost estimate and reconciliation is to be attached to the Transport Investment Online funding application as supporting information.

Risk assessment, analysis and management

Approved Organisations and the Transport Agency(state highways) are expected to apply risk assessment and management processes to the development and implementation/construction of their activities that are appropriate to the scale and risk involved, following the guidance and applying the procedures set out in the Transport Agency's Risk Management Process Manual.

The risk register and management plan(s) for projects under development are to be attached to the Transport Investment Online funding application as supporting information.

Consultation and engagement

Programme Interrelated and complementary combination of activities that, when delivered in a coordinated manner, produce synergies – can span more than one work category and more than one activity class, e.g. a programme could include a road improvement and public transport improvement activities. consultation is handled by the RTC A regional transport committee established under section 105 or clause 11 of schedule 7 of the LTMA. when it consults on the RLTP A regional land transport plan, prepared under Part 2 of the LTMA, as from time to time amended or varied. . However, the need to take into account the views of affected communities under the LTMA The Land Transport Management Act 2003, as amended from time to time. , to give early and full consideration of alternative options, implies a need to consult or engage at the activity level in the course of activity development. This may also be required under other legislation, e.g. Resource Management Act.

Transport Agency decision conditions

The Transport Agency may apply conditions to any support, endorsement or approval that it may provide for a strategy, package, programme or activity. These will generally fall into one of two categories:

• Condition precedent – means that the condition must be fulfilled before the support, endorsement or approval is put into effect. For a funding approval this will mean that no funding will be released until the condition is met.
• Condition subsequent – means that the condition needs to be fulfilled by a specified time or event, but the decision can be put into effect. For a funding approval this will mean that funding will be released before the condition is met. Often, conditions subsequent Get Funding Approved, but an additional action required.  Normally with a deadline.  will need to be fulfilled before the next funding application for an activity.

Conditions are recorded and managed through Transport Investment Online.