This section provides guidance for assessing programmes of minor improvements within the local road improvements, state highway improvements or public transport activity classes.
The minor improvements are delivered under the following work categories:
Guidance on definitions and conditions of funding will be found at the above links.
The Transport Agency expects minor improvement programmes to be well linked to activity management planning documents (e.g. Activity Management Plans, Road Safety Action Plans and Regional Land Transport Plans) as well as Long Term Plans.
The templates below for minor improvements are required to be completed and uploaded into Transport Investment Online for the programmes to be accepted into the NLTP. The templates themselves enable a simplified assessment of the activities that make up the programmes, which will inform the assessment of the programmes.
Note that the template has been created in Excel 2007 and that the Summary of Activities” worksheet will show #NAME? errors if opened in Excel 2003.
The appropriate strategic fit assessment criteria are to be applied to each programme, being:
The assessment is made at the programme level and should be based on the outcomes stated across the proposed activities in the completed template. Some judgement will be required as minor improvements likely will be targeting a mix of medium and high strategic fit priorities. However, it is expected that the majority will target issues of medium strategic fit.
Further information
Further information on Strategic Fit assessment is provided in the guidance on Developing an Assessment Profile.
Criteria for effectiveness
The criteria under which the effectiveness of minor improvement programmes are assessed can be accessed at the following links:
The assessment is made at the programme level. Some judgement will be required to ascertain the effectiveness of the programme as a whole in addressing the problems identified in the strategic fit assessment. The scale of minor improvements activities should not be a factor in the assessment of the programme as they can play an important supporting role to a larger improvements programme, for instance targeting safety and resilience outcomes.
A strong linkage to activity management planning documents should provide insight to the effectiveness of the programmes. The use of a reasonably robust prioritisation methodology that is based on evidence and aligned to GPS results should be demonstrated.
Further information
Further information on Effectiveness assessment is provided in the section on Developing an Assessment Profile.
Requirements
The fundamental requirement of a fully completed minor improvements template uploaded into Transport Investment Online must be met.
A value for money scan of the proposed activities in the programmes should be made to challenge, and remove from the programme, any that are judged to be of low value.
Generic rating
Provided the Transport Agency(planning and investment) representative responsible for assessing the programme(s) is satisfied that it targets medium and high strategic fit results, that it will be effective and that the activities in the list represent reasonable value for money, a generic rating of Medium will apply to minor improvement programmes.
Further information
Further information on Benefit and Cost Appraisal is provided in the section on Developing an Assessment Profile.
