This section provides guidance on the input fields in Transport Investment Online (TIO) for developing a road minor improvements programme and for developing road improvement activities.
Roading improvements, including Walking and cycling improvements, with a whole of life implementation cost of $300,000 or less should be included in a Road Minor Improvements programme under Work Category 341: Minor improvements.
The Transport Agency requires Approved Organisations to follow the Transport Agency’s Planning and Investment Principles in developing and delivering their programmes.
Minor improvement programmes are developed through the 'Minor Improvements' module in Transport Investment Online (TIO). The module consists of the following sections:
| Project level screens - (Note - for unitary authorities the same project covers both road and public transport minor improvement programmes.) | |||
| Project outline | Content should reflect the principles of the Business Case Approach. Much of the evidence around the project will be contained in the current Activity Management Plan (AMP), which is a critical document to support the application. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Objectives | What outcomes are being sought from the programme? Reference should be made to the AMP. Objectives should be SMART - specific, measureable, achievable/affordable, relevant/realistic and time-bound. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Supporting documents |
The use of the Transport Agency's minor improvements template is mandatory. The Agency downloads information from the completed template and uses it for developing the NLTP. The Agency also reviews the information provided in the template to come to a view of eligibility and priority of the proposed activities. Select the 'Local Roads/State Highways Minor Improvement Activities' template and download it to your computer. Complete the template by inputting your minor improvements along with required information, save, then upload into TIO. If you are creating into more than one roading minor improvements programme, you can down load the template again, complete it and save, then upload it as a supporting document. |
Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Assessment of the programme | Uses the Transport Agency's Investment Assessment Framework - refer to Assessment of Minor Improvement Programmes (while an assessment of individual activities using the Investment Assessment Framework is not required, an assessment of the programme(s) is required). | ||
| Programme owner assessment | The applicant's assessment is mandatory and informs the Transport Agency's assessment. It consists of ratings for each factor with an assessment commentary required for each. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| NZTA assessment | This assessment considers the programme owner's assessment and is a key input to the Transport Agency's decision whether to approve funding for the programme. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Contact details | Contact details of programme owner representative. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Supporting documents | The uploaded template(s) will be shown as supporting document(s). Upload any other relevant documents that provide evidence to support the request for funding. Some organisations save their completed programmes from the previous NLTP as supporting documentation. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Phase level screens | |||
| Phases summary | Provides a high level view of funding approved for local road and public transport minor improvements in the NLTP. | ||
| Minor Improvements | Select 'Local Roads', 'State Highways' or 'PT Improvements' from the left hand menu. | ||
| Outline | Enter information as required | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Your phase reference | Programme owner has the option to entire a programme identifier. | Optional | |
| Phase | Automatically completed as "Construction" | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Work category mapping year | Select start year of programme. | ||
| Work category | Automatically inserts Work category 341: Minor improvements | ||
| Costs | Enter requested amounts by year. The Transport Agency will enter recommended/ approved amounts when it moderates the requests as part of optimising the NLTP. Note that a base level of funding equivalent to 5% of the programme owner's road maintenance programme is guaranteed, if requested. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| NZTA recommendations | The Transport Agency regional representative completes this section. When the Board adopts the NLTP and agrees with the recommended allocations, the funding priority will change to "Approved". | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
Road improvements with a whole of life implementation cost of over $300,000 must be developed through the Transport Investment Online as individual projects.
The Transport Agency requires Approved Organisations to follow the Transport Agency’s Planning and Investment Principles in developing and delivering their projects.
Road improvements are developed through the 'Improvement activity' module in Transport Investment Online (TIO), which is a generic module covering the full range of improvements funded by the Transport Agency. The module consists of the following sections:
| Project level screens | |||
| Improvement activity outline | Content should be based on the principles of the Business Case Approach. Much of the evidence around the project context will be contained in the current Activity Management Plan (AMP), which is a critical document to support the project and its funding application. | ||
| Improvement activity name | The name should capture the mode and location. Early in development the name may be general and become more specific as the business case for the project is refined. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Your reference | The project owner may enter a project identifier. | Optional | |
| Activity description | A brief (one or two sentences) description of the output of the project. This will likely start as a general description in early business case stages and will become more specific in later cases once the preferred option is identified and confirmed. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Main problem/ opportunity | The main problem(s)/opportunity(ies) should have been identified in the activity level strategic case for the project. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Is the strategic case still current? | The project owner confirms that it is still current and fit for purpose, which it should be, given the requirement to review the strategic case at each decision gate. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Strategic case | Upload the strategic case document that sets out the problem statement(s), identifies the benefits of addressing the problem(s) and demonstrates the process to arrive at these was robust and involved relevant stakeholders. | Required for Funding approval | |
| NZTA Specific | The Transport Agency person responsible for recommending the funding approval confirms the strategic case is current and fit for purpose. | Required for Funding approval | |
| Select programme or sub-programme | If the project is part of a programme business case that has been set up in TIO, select the PBC from the drop down list. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Primary short to medium term impact | Select from the drop down list the main impact delivered by the project. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Objectives | If the project is not part of a programme business case, its objectives need to be stated here. What outcomes are being sought from the programme? Reference should be made to the AMP. Objectives should be SMART - specific, measureable, achievable/affordable, relevant/realistic and time-bound. (Note - this is required under the LTMA.) | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Other short to medium term impacts | Tick other impacts delivered by the project in the list as appropriate. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Describe the background | Provide a brief description of the context for the project. This would include a summary of key development points in its history. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| NZTA specific - Is this improvement activity nominated for performance measures and targets? | Applies to implementation stage only. Road improvement projects over $10 million implementation cost are automatically nominated. The Transport Agency may also nominate a sample of projects of lower implementation cost, which will mean the 'yes' will be activated by an Agency representative. | Required for Funding approval | |
| Location | |||
| Description | A succinct description is sought - see help text against this field. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Location map | Providing a location map can be of help to the Transport Agency in assessing the project and recommending it to decision makers, e.g. the Transport Agency Board. | Optional | |
| Geospatial information | |||
| Projection | Mandatory field - see help text for guidance. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
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Co-ordinates, or |
Either enter general coordinates of the extents of your application, or provide a zip file containing GIS files showing coordinates of investment proposal. |
Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Benefit and cost spreadsheets |
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Download spreadsheet template |
Use of the template for road improvement activities (where benefit-cost analysis is the required benefit and cost appraisal methodology) is mandatory. The need to download and populate the fields depends on what procedures are being to calculate the benefit cost ratio:
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Required for Funding approval | |
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Benefit and cost appraisal data |
These fields will be populated automatically from the mandatory spreadsheet template, provided it is completed correctly. |
Required for Funding approval | |
| Funding |
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| Total capital construction costs |
The total capital cost in nominal terms over the expenditure period is entered at this field. This cost must include an estimate for input cost increases (escalation) so that it relates directly to funding, which is forecast in nominal terms. |
Required for Funding approval | |
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Total net property cost |
The net property cost estimate, after surplus property sales/disposal, is entered at this field. An estimate of current market value should be provided. |
Required for Funding approval | |
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Total implementation costs |
Implementation costs over and above capital construction and property costs should be entered at this field. This may include initial maintenance costs, if these are part of the construction contract. | Required for Funding approval |
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Total new operating costs |
If the project results in an increase in operating costs, e.g. a new tunnel operating costs, or in maintenance costs against the do-minimum, the present value of these costs, discounted at 6% real over the 40 year evaluation period, should be entered at this field. | Required for Funding approval |
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95th percentile total cost |
Risk analysis, using Monte Carlo simulation, is required for improvement projects at various stages in the business case approach. Guidance is provided in the Transport Agency's Risk Management Manual Z-44 (external link)- refer to Page 11. | Required for Funding approval |
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5th percentile total cost |
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| Assessment of the programme | Uses the Transport Agency's Investment Assessment Framework - refer to Assessment of Road Improvements. | ||
| Programme owner assessment |
The applicant's assessment is mandatory and informs the Transport Agency's assessment. It consists of ratings for each factor with an assessment commentary required for each. In most cases, the project owner Benefit-Cost Ratio will be the national or government BCR shown in the 'Benefit and cost data' section, with the government BCR taking precedence over the national BCR. Where a programme of interdependent activities is the basis for assessment, the programme level BCR should be stated. If a BCR that is different from the national or government BCR in the 'Benefit and cast data' section, the reasons for using a different BCR need to be stated in the 'Project owner assessment of benefit and cost appraisal' field. |
Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| NZTA assessment | This assessment considers the programme owner assessment and is a key input to the Transport Agency's decision whether to approve funding for the phase. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Contact details | Contact details of programme owner representative. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Supporting documents | The uploaded strategic case will be shown in this screen, as will the EEM BCR calculations. Upload any other relevant documents that provide evidence to support the request for funding. The Transport Agency should upload relevant memos and minutes relating to the recommendation for funding approval and investment decision. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval | |
| Phase level screens | |||
| Phases summary | Provides a high level view of funding for the project phases in the NLTP. | ||
| 'Add a phase' | Select from left hand menu. If you are revising information for an existing phase, select that phase from the menu. | ||
| Outline | Improvement activity name | Completed automatically. | |
| Phase label | Provides the opportunity for the project owner to name the phase. This can be useful where a stage or phase has been split into two or more of the same phase type. E.g. if implementation of a project involves an enabling works phase and then a full implementation phase, then each phase can be named even though the same phase type (implementation) applies to both. | Optional | |
| Phase type |
Business case approach stages of Indicative business case, Detailed business case, Pre-implementation and Implementation should be used. Pre-implementation should be used sparingly and only for large, complex projects. Design and Construction phase types may be applied to projects that started development prior to introduction of the business case approach. The Transport Agency is phasing these types out of the menu over time. The Property phase is used to record property purchase costs and, as a negative cost, the sale/disposal of surplus property, if any. The Repayment phase relates to the repayment from the NLTF of a loan used to fund the project. Transport Agency(planning & investment) advice and assistance should be sought prior to setting up this phase in TIO. Note - the debt associated with tolled projects is usually repaid from tolling revenue, so should not require an NLTF repayment schedule. |
Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval. | |
| Phase reference | The project owners reference used to identify the project and/or phase. | Optional | |
| Work category mapping year | Usually the year in which the phase is approved, which assists the Transport Agency to apply the correct funding assistance rate and to apply the right investment policy in performance audits. | Required for Funding approval. | |
| Phase scope | Describes the output that will be delivered by the phase. | Required for Funding approval. | |
| Work category | Select the most appropriate work category from the dropdown list that applies to the phase. Most improvement projects will be developed and delivered under a single work category. In some instances, e.g. very large projects comprising a mix of modes, it may be sensible to set up more than one implementation phase to better account for work delivered under more than one work category. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval. | |
| Costs | Special FAR? |
This defaults to "No", which means that the Approved Organisation's Normal funding assistance rate (FAR) applies. In specific cases, a non-standard FAR may apply, e.g. where the Transport Agency has approved a Targeted Enhanced FAR. |
Optional - if approved. |
| Cost table | Enter total costs for each year and supplementary funding, if any. The costs entered are nominal and will be presumed by the Transport Agency(planning & investment) to include an allowance for input cost increases over time (escalation). | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval. | |
| Total expected construction/ implementation cost | Automatically completed from the 'Funding' screen at project level. | ||
| Add additional years | The cash-flow table can be extended beyond the standard ten year format. | Optional - if required. | |
| Duration of activity | Automatically completed based on the cost table. Satisfies a legislative requirement. | Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval. | |
| NZTA recommendations | The Transport Agency(planning & investment) regional representative completes this section, which relates to the decision to include the activity in the NLTP. The recommendation will be confirmed at national office level before the NLTP is adopted. The recommendation for funding approval is made at a Review, which is a separate screen in TIO. Some of the information at this NZTA recommendation screen, e.g. 'activity class type', stays with the phase through to funding approval and claims. | ||
| Activity class type |
'NLTF-improvement' relates to Local Road Improvements and State Highways Improvements activity classes. 'NLTF-regional' relates to the Regional Improvements activity class, which is reserved for roading projects only. If a project is funded under a Crown appropriation or loan outside of the NLTF, then 'Crown funded' should be selected. Advice should be sought from Transport Agency(planning & investment) staff. |
Required for NLTP inclusion and Funding approval. | |
| Confidence | The Transport Agency(planning & investment) regional representative considers the likelihood of the phase being progressed to a funding application in the NLTP period. The rating is converted to a probability, e.g. 'very high' = 95%, and the costs in the NLTP period multiplied by the probability to provide a risk adjusted funding estimate. Summing up all the phases in activity classes assists the Transport Agency(planning & investment) to set activity class funding allocations and investment thresholds. | Required for NLTP inclusion. | |
| Funding priority |
The Transport Agency(planning & investment) recommends one of the following:
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Required for NLTP inclusion. | |
