The Reduction of Congestion in Melbourne City - Case Study Example

PROJECT MANAGEMENT By Institution: Date of submission: Instructor PROJECT MANAGEMENT Urban structure and mobility patterns are the leading determinants for any transportation infrastructure. On the demand side, transport must respond to mobility needs and on the supply side geography and urbanization limit the design of the infrastructure. Authorities have always made it their priority in ensuring that the public has access to efficient transport systems. The State Government of Victoria wants to build a high-speed rail line from Melbourne to Mildura. This project plan details all the essential elements of the project. The project needs to be done because of the congestion in Melbourne; although the state government has been addressing the issue by using other means, a high-speed rail will be one of the solutions that will help in addressing the problem once and for all. Moreover, the project will be undertaken from Melbourne to Mildura but it will take into account Tullamarine Airport, Bendigo as well as all major towns between Bendigo and Mildura. This way, the project will help in providing efficient transport for residents of Victoria State. The government has an obligation to ensure sound, efficient and effective transportation network and by undertaking the project, the state government would have somehow fulfilled its obligation. The other reason for undertaking the project is to boost the economic prospects of Victoria State; with an efficient transport network, people will go to work on time, goods will to the market and this will boost the economy. Furthermore, due to the congestion in Melbourne, getting to Tullamarine Airport proves to be a hard task and some people end up missing their flights. However, with the high-speed rail network, this will be a problem of the past, as the project will take into account the airport. Like any other project, the high-speed rail network from Melbourne to Mildura also has objectives. The objectives will serve as a guide for all stakeholders when the project commences. Moreover, the objectives of this project will also help in determining subsequent parts of the project plan such as resources and timeline. The objectives of the project are outlined below: To provide a more efficient transportation alternative that will give high-speed rail network a competitive advantage over other modes of transportation. To reduce the carbon footprint by encouraging the use of rail transportation once the project is complete. Moreover, the other aim of the project is to provide an effective transport network for residents of Victoria as well as visitors. Additionally, the project aims to boost the economy around Victoria by providing an efficient transport network. From the above objectives, it is clear that the project aims to not only improve peoples’ lives but also boost the economy. Of particular interest is the project’s aim to reduce the carbon footprint a trend that has been seen in many modern projects. Each of the modern projects has to take into account the environmental impact that the project will have and work on ways to reduce the impact. The State government of Victoria will have to come up with a plan to address the impact that the high-speed rail network will impact on the environment. Schedule or time management involves the effective use of time to facilitate the execution of the project. The effectiveness of time management in a project is reflected in the schedule performance. Project scheduling involves the construction of a project base plan that specifies each activity the precedence and resource feasible start and completion dates, the amount of the various resource types that will be needed during each period (Maley, 2012). The project in this case will start as soon as all the resources required for the project are made available. The project will start in January next year and is expected to be completed within twenty-five months. For the project to be a success, the State government has to with stakeholders who have interest in the transportation sector. These stakeholders will be attached to several phases of the project depending on their interest. The project will be implemented in phases and currently the project is at the planning stage. The other phases of the project include launching the project and execution as well as project closure. During the project execution phase, best practices dictate that project deliverables be examined to ensure that they meet the project objectives established during the planning phase. Each project is countered with risks and the project manager has to come with a risk management plan to face these risks. The project may be disrupted by unforeseen events that are outside the control of the project team. The risks that may face the high-speed rail network in this case may come in terms of physical nature such as floods, storms and earthquakes. The other risks include construction overrun cost that will lead to delay in the delivery of the project. To avoid such an occurrence, the State government of Victoria will have to budget for the project effectively and ensure that the project is allocated with sufficient funds. Furthermore, there is also the commercial risk that may from the fact that the project may not generate the expected revenues. The resources to accomplish the project, that is, personnel, supplies, material, facilities as well as expertise are identified in the resource part of the project plan. The availability of these resources need to be determined before the project begin and if the resources are not enough, then the project manager has to identify ways of ensuring that the resources are available (Dinsmore and Cabanis-Brewin, 2011). The resources for the high speed rail network will be acquired through hiring contacting as well as partnerships. Of particular interest is the partnerships that will be between the state government of Victoria and other stakeholders. The stakeholders will also help in funding the project in various ways such as provision of materials for the project. At each stage of the project, there will be personnel that will be required to undertake the activities of the project. Given that the project is estimated to take twenty five months, the personnel will be hired on a twenty five month contract. This will help in minimizing the costs of hiring new personnel and high turnover. The expected results of this project include the reduction of the congestion in Melbourne city. Moreover, there will also be an improvement of the transportation network around the state of Victoria. The other outcome expected from the implementation of this project is the enhancement of the economy of the state of Victoria. Furthermore, the costs of maintaining roads will also come down due to the reduced congestion around the town of Victoria. Monitoring is the art of collecting the essential information with least effort to guide in decision-making regarding the project. It is a continuing function that aims to provide project management and stakeholders of an ongoing project with early indications of progress. Monitoring is done while a project is being put into practice with the aim of improving the design and functioning while in action (Gudda, 2011). In the case of this project, monitoring of the project will be done on a monthly basis to determine if the project supports the development priorities of the state government of Victoria. Moreover, the monitoring will also be done to determine if the appropriate groups are being targeted by the project. The other aim of the monitoring process in this case is to determine if the objectives of the project remain valid in light of any changes in the project environment. Project quality is a management practice that guides the project manager and the project team to perform critical oversight activities necessary to avoid reworking and concentrate on improvements. Quality assurance is the role of the project manager who has to ensure that all aspects of the project meet the required standards. To ensure that quality is maintained in the high-speed rail network, the project manager will have to apply quality controls. These controls will help the manager identify any sections of the project that are of poor quality and establish ways to rectify them. In the case of this project, the quality control methods to be used include inspection and use of quality control charts. Quality control inspection is used to measure, examine and test the deliverables of the project. The inspection can be planned or done, as the State of Victoria would wish. The types of inspections to be applied in this case include walkthroughs on the competed parts of the project, audits, process reviews as well as product reviews. A quality control team will have to be appointed to ensure that the all the aspects of quality for the project are maintained. Furthermore, quality control charts will be used to show the results of the high speed rail network over time. These charts will be used to track the costs the projects; this will be used to ascertain if the project is sticking to the initial budget or additional funds will be required. In general, quality control is used to determine the need for process adjustments and additional work. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dinsmore, P. and Cabanis-Brewin, J. (2011). The AMA handbook of project management. New York: American Management Association. Gudda, P. (2011). A guide to project monitoring & evaluation. Bloomingon: AuthorHouse. Maley, C. (2012). Project management concepts, methods, and techniques. Arlington, Va.: ESI International. Read More