Abstract Manager

Session Goal:

This session will aid participants in tackling a challenge facing professionals, elected officials, and community members: how can we make decisions on transportation investments in the 21st century policy context? To do so, it will explore emerging best practices for developing and deploying new decision-making frameworks and tools in the Canadian context based on recent experience in B.C.

Background:

Which option should be selected? When is the right time to deliver a project? What projects should be prioritized today vs. tomorrow? These are all questions that professionals and elected official grapple with in Canada, and these questions are only becoming more challenging to answer.

Transportation investments – spanning rapid transit, bridges, highways, and other infrastructure – are increasingly complex and costly. Over the past decades government policy goals and infrastructure design standards have evolved to meet pressing needs spanning sustainability, equity, economic prosperity, and affordability.  However, many of the tools used to evaluate, decide upon, and monitor investments in transportation systems have not kept up with this rapid pace of change.

Case Study:

The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Transit has taken this challenge head on through the development of a modernized “Infrastructure Decision Making Framework” for all capital projects in BC. In the coming decade, B.C. will face a series of challenges and opportunities for which investment in transportation infrastructure will be part of the solution to enable multi-modal transportation systems with benefits reaching beyond the traditional highway- and vehicle-centric goals of safety, reliability, and asset condition.

This multi year process spanned peer practice research, capacity building/change management, analytic tool development, and new approaches to storytelling to aid staff, ministry leaders, and elected officials in selecting options through business cases and prioritizing projects for advancement. This extensive effort resulted in multiple lessons learned that will be shared with TAC delegates in presentation format.

Presentation Structure:

The presentation will discuss:

• Key challenges faced/problem statement for modernizing decision making
• Relevant insights from peer jurisdictions
• Emerging practices to prioritize and evaluate infrastructure
• Emerging practices to manage change and ‘modernize tools and  teams’ at the ministry
• Key insights for consideration elsewhere in Canada