Abstract Manager

The City of Toronto and Arcadis collaborated to transform the City’s Electrical Maintenance Contract (EMC), which has been in place for two decades, into a modern performance-based asset maintenance contract. The EMC is used to procure electrical contractors that maintain and monitor all traffic related electrical assets. This includes traffic signals, signal controllers, cabinet equipment, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) equipment. Starting in 2020, the EMC was restructured to improve operational oversight, streamline work processes, incentivize competition, and introduce performance measures and incentives. Arcadis also developed provisions and specifications for an asset maintenance work order management system to support the contract administration and oversight.

The City administered the updated EMC between 2021 and 2025, and then worked with Arcadis to make further updates based on lessons learned. Updates included optimizing contractor incentives and disincentives to achieve the intended outcomes, re-evaluating bid-item quantities based on contractor usage, preparing the EMC to be used as a foundation for proactive asset management through asset data collection, and preparing the EMC for integration with enterprise asset management systems to leverage maintenance data. This session will discuss the EMC’s transformation, its structure, lessons learned, connection to the City’s asset management program, and future plans and considerations.