Monaghan County Council Jobs Initiative Smarter Travel Projects 2011 Evaluation

Transcription

1 Monaghan County Council Jobs Initiative Smarter Travel Projects 2011 Evaluation Background Monaghan County Council received funding from the Dept of Transport, Tourism and Sport for three projects during The project details, the amount of funding, and the key deliverables identified in the project applications are outlined below. Project Funding Person Hours 1. Provision of 140,000 Not Bike Racks approved specified Key Deliverables Originally approved for: - 15 covered 10-bay shelters at bus stops - 10 covered 10-bay shelters in car parks bay racks at community centres in villages wall-mounted rails outside retail outlets This was changed post contract (with Dept approval) to: - 5 covered 10-bay shelters at bus stops - 10 covered 10-bay shelters in car parks bay racks at community centres in villages wall-mounted rails outside retail outlets To be distributed around 5 towns and 9 villages 2. Removal of roadside obstacles & provision of pedestrian safety & safe routes to schools 125,000 approved pedestrian crossings - 10 caution signs near schools (number unspecified in letter of offer) - 20 roadside obstacles to be removed 3. Creation of bus stop & set down area off N2 bypass Carrickmacross 54, bus stop provided - 1 set down area provided

2 Methodology Project 1 was project managed by the Office of Community & Enterprise, which worked with the Roads section to prepare tender documents for the supply of the bike shelters and racks, then worked with the Area Engineers to co-ordinate the delivery and installation of the racks by contractors under the supervision of the Area Engineers. The Office of Community & Enterprise, in consultation with the community sector, identified the locations for each rack. Project 2 came out of a Joint Policing Committee meeting, at which the Garda Chief Superintendent noted that there were a number of obstacles at accident blackspots which would add to the severity of any injuries incurred in a road accident at those spots. The Gardai worked with the Area Engineers to identify the priority obstacles for removal, and the AE s arranged contractors to carry out the works, with the permission of landowners, where required. The locations for pedestrian safety measures were determined by the Area Engineers, acting on requests from local schools and communities, and in the case of Monaghan town, according to an agreed traffic management plan. Project 3 was prioritised in response to a demand by local people for a bus stop to service the new by-pass of the town, as express buses to Dublin no longer serviced the town itself. The project was project managed by the Area Engineer in Carrickmacross, who engaged one contractor to carry out the entire project. Monaghan County Council is happy that the appropriate personnel were involved in the delivery of the projects, and that the appropriate local partners were involved to a satisfactory level, given the limited time available. Delivery Processes Delivery mechanisms The projects were delivered on the ground by outside contractors, under the supervision of Council staff. The identification of locations, obstacles etc necessitated working closely with community groups, five Town Councils, an Garda Siochana, Bus Eireann and Eircom. This was possible because of the linkages built up with these organisations by the Office of Community & Enterprise through the activities of the County Development Board. The CDB s Partnership Process worked well in linking community needs to organisational knowledge. The involvement of private contractors made the logistics of carrying out works on private property more straightforward than had the Council been carrying out the works directly. Timeframe Projects 1 and 2 were approved by the Dept at the end of July Project 3 received the go-ahead in mid October. Timeframes were extremely tight, causing difficulty for local authority staff. For example: - Project 1 required the performance of a full tendering process for the supply of the bike racks and shelters. The tendering process was concluded in mid September, and a delivery date of the end of October agreed for the supply of

3 the shelters etc. Luckily, the project went to plan and no delays in production were experienced - The removal of certain roadside obstacles had to be performed by Eircom s contractors. The timing of this was outside the control of Monaghan County Council. - Certain works were not possible before the end of 2011, due to work backlogs at the year end, or in the cases of electronic signage, a glut of orders being placed all at once due to the Smarter Travel funding throughout the country. - Exhaustive consultation with local people on the exact nature and location of some elements was not always possible given the tight deadlines. Luckily, thanks to the close working relationship enjoyed by the Office of Community & Enterprise with the community sector, there were no difficulties arising from the less-than-ideal consultation carried out. Invoicing & Claims Procedures As much of the civil works were organised at Area Engineer level, the payments were processed by area office staff. Staff in the Office of Community & Enterprise then prepared the final claim to the Dept. While transactions could be accessed electronically through the Agresso system, paper copies of the actual invoices and purchase orders were held first by the area office, then forwarded to Finance, from where they had to be retrieved in order to be submitted to the Dept with the claim. This process took several weeks and was the most labour-intensive aspect of managing the projects. As the Council s accounts are audited annually, it should be feasible to reduce the paperwork associated with the claims to just an Agresso printout and a letter from the Head of Finance to certify all payments made are correct, as stated in the claim. As an additional measure, the Dept might select a sample of transactions and ask for copies of these invoices and PO s to be forwarded. This would reduce the burden of administration on Council staff, and also reduce the amount of paper which is held in Dept. files. Delivery of Outputs All agreed outputs were achieved, as outlined below: Project 1. Provision of Bike Racks Outputs as per contract - 5 covered 10-bay shelters at bus stops - 10 covered 10- bay shelters in car parks bay racks at community centres in Quantitative Outputs achieved 100% achieved 100% achieved 100% achieved Qualitative Outputs achieved The aims of the initiative were: - to encourage more people to use bikes for short journeys. It is early days yet, as fewer people use their bikes in the winter months. Early indications are

4 2. Removal of roadside obstacles & provision of pedestrian safety & safe routes to schools villages wallmounted rails outside retail outlets To be distributed around 5 towns and 9 villages No number of person hours specified 140,000 awarded - 4 pedestrian crossings - 10 caution signs near schools (number unspecified in letter of offer) Still working with Tidy Towns and Chambers of Commerce to roll out this element. Will launch during Bike Week June towns covered 22 villages/ communities covered All settlements in the county now have bike parking facilities hours 115, claimed savings achieved as wall mounted units will be self installed by retailers 4 crossings installed, all near education facilities Speed radar signs were erected at 5 locations. Rumble strips were painted on the road outside a national school where signage was not deemed appropriate. caution school ahead signs were placed outside one second level school which is situated on the N2 In all, 12 signs and 1 set of rumble strips were provided favourable, though, with the racks attracting much positive local comment. - to provide links to public transport, thus encouraging people to travel onwards by bus. Again, it is too early to tell if this is having an effect. We hope that our continued involvement in Bike Week will provide opportunities to encourage a paradigm shift over the next few years The retail element is generating much goodwill towards the Council from shop owners, who have been suffering in recent times Safe routes to school created for 1 montessori, 2 primary and 3 secondary schools. In addition, safe crossing points provided along routes used by young people to access local facilities. The safe crossing points will encourage more parents to allow their children to walk or cycle to school, activities etc.

5 - 20 roadside obstacles to be removed 100 person hours 125,000 awarded 6 Eircom poles were moved back from roadside at three locations. 14 trees removed along roadsides in four locations person hours 104, claimed Visability improved at 3 road junctions. Hazards at four locations removed, thus reducing the likely severity of injuries to road users who leave the road at these points. 3. Creation of bus stop & set down area off N2 bypass Carrickmacross - 1 bus stop provided - 1 set down area provided 40 person hours 54,366 1 bus stop in place 1 set down area in place person hours 33, claimed Significant savings made on bus shelter, which is being supplied by Adshel Bus access to Dublin and Derry along N2 restored to the people of Carrickmacross. The stop also facilitates services to Dundalk. Evaluation of Overall Experience The overall experience of Council staff in accessing the funding, drawing it down and reporting on same was very positive. In particular, we found the staff in the Dept to be very accommodating and understanding of the shortness of time which we had to complete the projects. We have used the funding to make a statement to the public; that we are committed to the concept of Smarter Travel, and that we will be encouraging the use of bikes through incentives such as free bike parking in towns, etc. We have received much positive comment from the public, and particularly from young people, who are reliant on bikes for transport to activities and had been experiencing difficulty in securing their bikes. We hope to harness this renewed interest in cycling and walking to develop further initiatives, such as long distance walking routes, and in particular to encourage more schools to participate in the Transportation green flag. We have sent the message out to schools that we will support them in developing safe routes to school through the provision of signage, rumble strips etc. We were particularly pleased to be able to start a conversation with Bus Eireann about how the people of Monaghan use and access their services. We hope to build further on this and to access Dept support to provide information on bus times in town centres via digital noticeboards. While it is too early to tell if the measures we have put in place are having an effect, there is no doubt that we could not hope to bring about a change in the culture of

6 over-reliance on private motor cars until basic cycle parking facilities were in place. We hope to see a paradigm shift towards using bikes for local journeys and to link up with public transport in the coming years. However, we realise that this will be a hard task and will only be achieved in the long term through concerted and continued initiatives which build on the positive start we have made through the Smarter Travel Initiative We thank the Dept for the opportunity to begin our journey towards becoming a smarter travel county.