Seven steps for Jeroen Weimar to revive DTP

Today is the first business day of the Department of Transport and Planning under new secretary Jeroen Weimar. Mr Weimar takes over from Paul Younis who led the department for six years after a period in local government.

The previous leadership

Paul Younis could be said to have been a steady hand in keeping transport services running during the pandemic. His gaining of an increasing number of roles (most notably Planning) may have indicated government comfort with him as a backroom operator with politicians like Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan having all the limelight. 

Last year I described him as an introvert who hides his light under a bushel. Inspiring patronage, winning new funding (eg the Bus Plan), minimising financial losses (eg fare evasion) and media skills are not necessarily the first things that spring to mind when considering the previous Secretary's legacy. Neither did he have a background in running public transport services, unlike leaders in the PTV era. 

Some of the above might have been seen as secondary given that during Younis' term Melbourne was basically a giant building site with major project construction agencies getting the billions, calling the shots, doing the media and competing for staff talent. DTP might still be the central agency on paper but has given the impression of drifting or punching below its weight. Which might have been what the  Labor government wanted given its infrastructure-first strategy, lingering memories over bad departmental advice (regarding Myki procurement) and a preference for seeking advice outside the department, such as demonstrated with the Suburban Rail Loop. 

Current context

Things are changing as we "switch on the Big Build".

Projects like the Metro Tunnel will open soon.

The state government's budgetary position has deteriorated while community demand for transport remains, abetted by high population growth.

There aren't as many big new infrastructure projects announced now as in 2018 but the need to get value for money is more than ever.

And that's even before mentioning the emergence of housing as a major policy issue and next year's state election. 

Opportunity for new leadership

DTP could be described as a sleeping giant. It has many good people but effort is needed to maximise what it manages to get funded in a contestable policy environment. It particularly needs a new spirit and style of leadership. I outlined five challenges for the incoming DTP Secretary here. 

All eyes are on Mr Weimar to deliver what is needed. His previous long-term operational experience in transport and ability to communicate a network vision give hope. As does his tendency to engage rather than shrink when a microphone is pointed his way.

Mr Weimar will need to inspire DTP staff, operators, media and even the general public in ways previous bosses didn't or couldn't. Whereas the five challenges before were mainly about what to do, there also needs to be work on vision, culture and even subject matter knowledge (given the backgrounds of some executives) for DTP to regain its central standing in the transport institutional ecosystem.  

A potential approach, with no call on the state budget, could be something like below. 

Seven steps for renewal

1. Set a culture and expectation of 'every day good service'

This includes 'thinking like a passenger'. It is wide enough to encompass matters like frequency, reliability, accessibility, connectivity, overall experience and potential for improvements. Including areas where DTP is directly responsive for, eg network planning, ticketing and information. 

This needs to be inform relationships with stakeholders such as government and operators, with the latter getting a signal that the department is watching more vigorously than it might have done in the recent past. On the other side of the sheet, DTP needs to be more responsive to operators' suggestions for cost-effective improvements since a common perception of DTP (rightly or wrongly) is that of an inflexible 'brick wall'.   

2. Leaders to ride the network at least one half day per fortnight  

Time On The Network (TOTN) would be a general expectation for anyone senior. This must include non-regular and off-peak travel like evenings and weekends for the full picture. Middle and outer suburbs, where most taxpayers live, too. Noting what is seen, talking to 'coal face' staff and reporting back observations and potential improvements are all essential to ensure value from the time expended.

Most other DTP staff could get about two or three paid hours per fortnight in on-network customer service roles at key train, tram and bus stops with quality reports of observations and potential improvements a pre-requisite for promotion. 

Those joining DTP from another department, no matter how senior, would have a minimum two weeks on-network customer service experience, with postings at interchanges across Melbourne, before starting their role. Time in the PTV call centre might also qualify. 

This unprecedented but necessary investment in staff development could be funded by improvements in internal processes.   


3. Foster a growth mindset, set a patronage target and improve network promotion

This is all about having and communicating a positive vision for the transport network including its ability to change lives and save people money. Like WMATA's General Manager Randy Clarke does here.

The last secretary's impact here was limited, with the dent in confidence due to the pandemic and widespread construction-based disruptions not helping.

However opportunities will increase as construction winds down, projects get completed and (potentially) some employers wind back working from home. Like with Sydney's Metro, we should capitalise on our Metro Tunnel to encourage growth.

PTV had an (internal) patronage target under Ian Dobbs but this did not seem to continue under later leaders. 

Every agency or body has a public persona. As per their end of year wrap-up videos, project authorities for Metro Tunnel, level crossing removals and the Suburban Rail Loop (and campaigns like #Fix800Bus) had an upbeat vibe.

In contrast DTP under Younis was more subdued about its achievements (to the point of underselling genuine improvements). This can't be good for (a) network patronage and therefore fare revenue, (b) the morale of staff who worked on these improvements, (c) maximising the political capital and goodwill obtained from transport network improvements, and (d) the standing of DTP itself, especially relative to other agencies competing for scarce funding. 

Big opportunity exists for Jeroen Weimar to engender a growth mindset in transport that stresses community and personal benefits. Hopefully he can continue where he left off (in his previous transport role) with this video articulating some of a network vision.     

4. Seek savings so more can be done

This is the first part of gathering a chest to fund improvements without recourse to new budget financing. That's a big plus as it allows things to be done quicker. And an ability to self-fund some initiatives gives DTP a big tick in Treasury's book (especially needed now given the reputation for project cost blow-outs). The ill-fated Bus Plan is a cautionary tale of what can happen when you bring out a plan without having the the funding sorted first. 

Finding savings that do not compromise service levels, reliability, safety and overall user experience needs to be a top priority. Examples might include deleting or modifying overlapping routes, 'greater good' timetable reforms, reduced fare evasion, staffing savings, process improvements etc. Such savings could be found from network observations, talking to people or analysing information. As a very small example, topical given that yesterday was a public holiday, there exist university shuttle bus routes that operate on days when universities are not open.

Some savings will no doubt be controversial and (often for good reasons) might not proceed. However there does need to be more encouragement for ideas here from all levels of the department. The more savings identified the more self-funding wins become possible (see next). 


5. Look for early and cheap wins 

Just because one hears that the government is broke (or that DTP isn't always the strongest at making convincing business cases that the government is willing to fund!) is no excuse to give up on improvements. They just need to be cut to the cloth available.

Having something happen far beats having nothing happen. Success here requires a keen eye to identify quick wins. Success could also kick-start bigger initiatives (which could be the subject of a budget bid).

Some improvements could be just a procedural issue while others might involve a small bus route or timetable change (with examples here). With trains an incredibly small number of extra trips scheduled at certain times (eg mid-evenings and Sunday mornings) can slash waits by up to 50%, make many trips more practical and support the major events sector. Promotion would be an integral part of implementation to maximise patronage and revenue gains from the improvement.  


6. Fix processes to get good stuff happening quicker

It's amazing that it is quicker to do a complex capital project like remove a level crossing than to substantially add to or reform a bus network. The former, with a dedicated organisation, is a refined mass production effort while bus reform is like a cottage industry with everything treated as one-off exceptions. 

DTP processes are convoluted even for minor timetable changes that require neither new buses nor public consultation. This slows the rate of progress compared to cities better at implementing bus reform like Auckland and Perth.

Part of this could be because DTP leaders think they are performing well by choosing certain methods that present progress on things like bus reform, overly favourably. We learned about this at the last Parliament Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing, as discussed here. Other examples exist, with bus fare evasion being a case where independent observers reach different conclusions to the optimism conveyed by DTP figures. More rigour is needed so bosses know what's going on and the full extent of the challenges ahead - without sugar-coating.  

What I consider a better approach for measuring bus network reform, based on periodical network health checks, indicated reform to only about 2% of bus routes per year. That's a glacial pace with reform to the full network taking many decades. It's slower than what Auckland and Perth achieve. It is also well down on our own record during the much more dynamic 2006 - 2010 period and the unbeaten since 'big service' upgrades of July 2014.

Measurement helps understanding. With that can come better processes to fix problems and make the network more useful. DTP 'worker bees' possibly suffer most from an (unfair) perception that their whole department is remote when in fact their understanding of issues is sound. 

It could be that ideas that arise can be fragile things that often get killed on their way to the top. For example the Bus Plan said all the right things but the Secretary, despite all the people helping, was unable to convince government it needed funding in either the 2023 or 2024 state budgets. Management weakness here can  affect general morale, with those wanting to do stuff tempted to seek opportunities elsewhere. 

The immediate state budgetary outlook is not strong. However opportunities may still exist for the new Secretary to make DTP more effective and successful by identifying economies, noting opportunities for cheap wins, fixing convoluted processes and presenting compelling business cases that the government is more likely to accept.

The drying up of cheap finance might even be an opportunity as it  might force a renewed focus on the sort of cost-effective service-oriented improvements that have played second fiddle to big infrastructure projects for too long. A well-managed DTP is in pole position to take advantage of this swing, especially given changing state political geographies and the government's need to prepare for next year's state election.  

7. Fix data accuracy and the PTV website - starting with disruption and service change advice

Unlike operations, which is normally done by a private operator under a contract or franchise, online  passenger information is a DTP responsibility. This can be good and bad. For example a negligent private operator can be 'called in' or even stripped of its franchise whereas this form of accountability is unavailable if DTP underperform. 

Sadly the latter is too often the case. Root causes include (a) routes and timetables being so complex that no one in DTP/PTV can understand nor communicate them accurately (with cheap to fix summer and public holiday service patterns for buses being prime examples), (b) fragmented processes for data (mapping, timetable data, text writing, disruption advice and social media being divided), (c) a lack of a data quality culture and (d) archaic systems  with only weekly updates that mean that even if data errors are detected a fix can take days.  

As I discussed here, official disruption and service change advice is found across many parts of the PTV website, often with no logic. Having senior DTP executives to ride the network more as they will see see, and possibly be inconvenienced by, the many problems that weak attention to data causes passengers.  

Conclusion

I have identified seven low or no cost steps that could, at least in the public transport area, lead to a higher performing and better respected DTP with improved culture and management. That would have knock on benefits with a more useful and better used transport network that genuinely changes lives and saves people money. 

Have I missed any steps? Or do you think some were unnecessary? Your comments would be appreciated and can be left below.