Capital Program Delivery Review

Dear Colleagues,

In March 2015, City Council directed the City Manager to retain the services of an independent consultant to review TTC capital program delivery. The review’s report is complete and will be before the TTC Board at its meeting next Wednesday, September 28.

KPMG was the consultant retained based on their background and expertise on the delivery and management of mega projects around the world. Here, they undertook an assessment of project, program and portfolio management capability at the TTC.

While this report speaks to specific areas of our business, it’s important, I feel, that the entire organization understand the report.

KPMG approached the review in two phases. The first involved an assessment of what is known as a “maturity level” of the organization when it comes to project management. Secondly, KPMG reviewed 13 capital projects, programs, and procurement from across the TTC, as well as more than 100 TTC project management policies, processes and procedures. Finally, they interviewed 68 individuals from the TTC, the City and other stakeholders.

On the projects reviewed, the report highlights where the TTC was not on schedule and/or was over budget. In each case, we know why the project was late or over budget and we will be prepared to explain the reasoning, be it scope change, delay to funding being released, contractor claims and so on. It is this area that will likely draw the most attention, but the Executive Team and I will be in front of this and remind anyone who needs reminding just what has happened in each case.

The KPMG report indicates the TTC should continue to have a role in capital project management and delivery. It outlines 41 recommendations to bring the TTC to a class-leading organization level. This speaks well for the TTC and our continued role in the delivery of major capital projects. The TTC has demonstrated innovative ways to deliver capital work by using alternative project delivery methods, including the Design-Build approach of McNicoll Bus Garage and the Construction Management approach for the TR-T1 Yard Accommodation Project.

There is always room for improvement; in some areas, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that we have more work to do. Some of the recommendations will result in incremental change. Others will cause us to consider how, rather than who, delivers projects. That said, KPMG states in their report that at the TTC “there are dedicated, experienced and qualified individuals.”

The report represents an opportunity to accelerate our efforts to modernize TTC’s management processes. It serves as a guide and roadmap to get us to world class in project delivery.

Reports of this nature are designed to show organizations where investments in resources are needed. Such investments pay dividends around sound project management and overall efficiencies, something we are continually asked to strive for – and rightly so.

We are already well on our way on many fronts, including the establishment of the Portfolio Management Office in 2014, the introduction of business cases and improved project governance with the establishment of the Project Review Board in 2015, increased transparency to project performance through dashboard reporting to our executive committees and the TTC Board in 2016, and capital project prioritization for the 2017 capital budget, to name a few examples.

Now is the time to capture best practices around the organization, particularly in EC&E, IT, Operations and Service Delivery. For example, we will look to capture existing best practices for scheduling, cost estimating and risk management. We will improve on them, where possible, and work to implement them consistently across the organization. This will result in more consistent, predictable and successful project outcomes, projects delivered on-time, on-budget and with a high degree of stakeholder satisfaction.

Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to the TTC. A day doesn’t go by when pride in this organization doesn’t show itself to me, whether in stations, on trains, buses and streetcars, or on construction sites and in boardrooms. Keep up the great work.

The report can be found at ttc.ca under Public Meetings.

Andy Byford
Chief Executive Officer
September 22, 2016