Company Reports - Alberta Ministry of Transportation: Where innovation and safety intersect
Statistics
Company Industry Founded Headquarters Key People Products Revenue Employees Follow us on
Platinum and Gold Partners
Silver and Bronze Partners
Alberta Ministry of Transportation: Where innovation and safety intersect
Alberta Ministry of Transportation: Where innovation and safety intersect
Written by Anne-Frances Hutchinson; Produced by Sydney Iyer
Responsible for overseeing roughly 30,000km of highways in Canada's prairie province, Alberta's Ministry of Transportation is a department on the move.
"We are committed to designing, building and maintaining a world-class transportation system in the province because we understand the importance of it. We understand that economic development in any area is very tied to the quality of the transportation system," explains the Deputy Minister of Transportation, Gary Boddez.
The work of the department is focused on three main areas: the provincial highway network, transportation safety, and building a center of excellence in transportation. "Our highway network is the lifeblood of moving goods, services and people provincially, nationally and internationally. It seems to be more important than ever with the growing economies in the world and in our area," Boddez notes.
With the lowest unemployment rate in the country and the highest levels of disposable income, Alberta continues to grow steadily - despite the end of a boom cycle in their energy resources sector. In 2008, the government invested more than $320 million in various highway construction projects and $516 million in highway rehabilitation and maintenance. Boddez estimates that spending for 2009 will reach about $1.8 billion.
Future building
The ministry has adopted the private sector model for all of its highway construction projects.
"This department has virtually no construction employees working in the department; we use the private sector for virtually all of our construction and design requirements," Boddez confirms. "We have kept a core of employees that allow us to be a knowledgeable owner and make an intelligent analysis of the value we're getting. We've certainly pushed out the door outside of government when it comes to construction and design. That's a philosophy that's been followed here for some time, and it works well."
Alberta successfully completed its first public-private partnership (P3) highway construction project in 2007. One significant benefit of the P3 approach is the competitive bidding and quality work offered by firms competing for the ministry's business. "We get a long-term 30-year warranty on the projects, and the winning proponent designs, builds and operates the system for 30 years," he points out. After 30 years, the winning firms are obliged to return the project to the government in respectable condition. "They're not very likely to (unrealistically) cut construction costs because they know they're going to be responsible to maintain it for 30 years."
Safer travels
Alberta Transportation develops and administers comprehensive safety programs that include driver education, training, testing and commercial vehicle safety. Says Boddez: "We are committed to road safety, because any user of our highway system is entitled to the highest standards of safety."
Highway fatalities in Alberta are on the decline, dropping 10.5 percent in 2008 from the prior year, thanks to a strategic combination of engineering initiatives, legislation, enforcement, and driver awareness campaigns.
"Ninety percent of collisions in Alberta are due to driver error," Boddez reports. "You can look at the design of the system, you can look at vehicle design and vehicle safety; all of those areas have increased greatly in the last number of years, but the primary responsibility is with each individual driver. We spend a lot of time and effort and resources trying to get the message to out to drivers that they are responsible for their actions on the road."
Moving forward
While the economic downturn demands that the department do more with less, the Deputy Minister is confident that prudence will work in his department's favor. "We're being held by the very market forces that have attacked the revenue side so severely," he muses. Dollar values of the department's construction bids have fallen significantly; the upside is more value for the dollar. "We're getting excellent bids on our tenders right now," he says. "We hope to be able to do as much or maybe more than we could have with the previous year's budgets."
Boom or bust, Boddez insists, "We have to encourage innovative instruction and design techniques, and take advantage of what's been done in other parts of the world dealing with transportation. By the same token, we must share our expertise with anybody who may benefit from what we've learned and what we've designed into our road network. Innovation is high in the department," he notes. "We know we have to keep moving.
"We are committed to designing, building and maintaining a world-class transportation system in the province because we understand the importance of it. We understand that economic development in any area is very tied to the quality of the transportation system," explains the Deputy Minister of Transportation, Gary Boddez.
The work of the department is focused on three main areas: the provincial highway network, transportation safety, and building a center of excellence in transportation. "Our highway network is the lifeblood of moving goods, services and people provincially, nationally and internationally. It seems to be more important than ever with the growing economies in the world and in our area," Boddez notes.
With the lowest unemployment rate in the country and the highest levels of disposable income, Alberta continues to grow steadily - despite the end of a boom cycle in their energy resources sector. In 2008, the government invested more than $320 million in various highway construction projects and $516 million in highway rehabilitation and maintenance. Boddez estimates that spending for 2009 will reach about $1.8 billion.
Future building
The ministry has adopted the private sector model for all of its highway construction projects.
"This department has virtually no construction employees working in the department; we use the private sector for virtually all of our construction and design requirements," Boddez confirms. "We have kept a core of employees that allow us to be a knowledgeable owner and make an intelligent analysis of the value we're getting. We've certainly pushed out the door outside of government when it comes to construction and design. That's a philosophy that's been followed here for some time, and it works well."
Alberta successfully completed its first public-private partnership (P3) highway construction project in 2007. One significant benefit of the P3 approach is the competitive bidding and quality work offered by firms competing for the ministry's business. "We get a long-term 30-year warranty on the projects, and the winning proponent designs, builds and operates the system for 30 years," he points out. After 30 years, the winning firms are obliged to return the project to the government in respectable condition. "They're not very likely to (unrealistically) cut construction costs because they know they're going to be responsible to maintain it for 30 years."
Safer travels
Alberta Transportation develops and administers comprehensive safety programs that include driver education, training, testing and commercial vehicle safety. Says Boddez: "We are committed to road safety, because any user of our highway system is entitled to the highest standards of safety."
Highway fatalities in Alberta are on the decline, dropping 10.5 percent in 2008 from the prior year, thanks to a strategic combination of engineering initiatives, legislation, enforcement, and driver awareness campaigns.
"Ninety percent of collisions in Alberta are due to driver error," Boddez reports. "You can look at the design of the system, you can look at vehicle design and vehicle safety; all of those areas have increased greatly in the last number of years, but the primary responsibility is with each individual driver. We spend a lot of time and effort and resources trying to get the message to out to drivers that they are responsible for their actions on the road."
Moving forward
While the economic downturn demands that the department do more with less, the Deputy Minister is confident that prudence will work in his department's favor. "We're being held by the very market forces that have attacked the revenue side so severely," he muses. Dollar values of the department's construction bids have fallen significantly; the upside is more value for the dollar. "We're getting excellent bids on our tenders right now," he says. "We hope to be able to do as much or maybe more than we could have with the previous year's budgets."
Boom or bust, Boddez insists, "We have to encourage innovative instruction and design techniques, and take advantage of what's been done in other parts of the world dealing with transportation. By the same token, we must share our expertise with anybody who may benefit from what we've learned and what we've designed into our road network. Innovation is high in the department," he notes. "We know we have to keep moving.