Highway Satisfaction Improving

Nova Scotians gave their highway system improved marks last year, according to the results of the latest customer satisfaction survey.

The 2003 survey for the Department of Transportation and Public Works found that Nova Scotians are generally happier with their roads and bridges than they were in the past three years. Fifty- nine per cent of residents felt very or somewhat satisfied with the provincial highway system. That's nine percentage points higher than in 2002 and 2001.

"The results reflect improvements we're making to the highway system across the province," said Transportation and Public Works Minister Ron Russell. "Nova Scotians are seeing the impact of increased capital funding every year since 2000, and more money being spent on rural and secondary roads through our Road Improvement Money program."

When respondents were asked what highway services are very important, they answered ice and snow removal, filling cracks and potholes, pavement marking and maintaining bridges.

"The survey is a cost-effective way for us to measure the quality of our service," Mr. Russell said. "We learn what's most important to highway users, and work to improve on these results."

Respondents were asked to rate 18 different aspects of the highways:

• number of four-lane highways;
• filling of cracks and potholes;
• resurfacing of highways;
• ice and snow removal;
• storm cleanup;
• highway design;
• number of passing lanes;
• length of passing lanes;
• all pavement markings;
• roadside brush and tree clearing;
• helpfulness of highway signs;
• maintenance of highway signs;
• number of non-commercial signs;
• width of highway shoulders;
• surface condition of highway shoulders;
• grading and dust control of gravel;
• ditches and culverts; and
• bridges.

"What makes these results even more impressive is the fact that, on top of our normal maintenance work, we dealt with the major challenges of a spring flood that closed 49 bridges and culverts and 200 roads last year, and then dealt with Hurricane Juan in the fall," said Mr. Russell.

The 2003 customer satisfaction survey, conducted by the Marketing Research Centre, is based on telephone interviews with 2068 residents of Nova Scotia, 16 years of age and older. A random sample of this size provides a sampling error of plus or minus 2.15 per cent with a 95 per cent confidence level.

The Department of Transportation and Public Works highways division manages more than 23,000 kilometres of roads in Nova Scotia. It maintains an inventory of 4,100 bridges and operates seven provincial ferries. Staff provide services from district offices in Bridgewater, Bedford, Truro and Sydney.