Chain of command

DOTD gets fresh look, new faces

By Angelle Bergeron

After Johnny Bradberry was appointed as the new secretary of transportation last April, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco also appointed Cedric Grant as deputy secretary and Michael Bridges as undersecretary, overseeing the office of management and finance. The new executives represent the first major management shift "in a long time," Grant said.

The new appointments found they work together like a well-oiled machine, bringing new energy and innovations to a department that, although charged with moving the population from one place to another, isn't particularly well-known for its internal dynamism.

"In an organization like this that is so historically bureaucratic, that is pretty earth-shaking," Grant said of the appointments, the new customer service-oriented approach the DOTD has since adopted and process improvement programs implemented this past year.

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"The secretary always says that if you do things the same way, the only thing you can expect is the same results," Bridges said.

The new appointments have definitely offered a fresh outlook for the department's many entrenched processes and systems. "We wanted to build on those processes that work well and change some of those that don't work so well," Bridges said. For example, many of DOTD's information technology systems have been in place more than 30 years and are grossly inadequate, providing specific information but not affording the ability to combine comprehensive data.

"Back in the 1970s, the department was at the cutting edge of computer systems and we have utilized those main frame type computer systems ever since," Bridges said. It is difficult to make changes in the existing systems because very few people know how to rewrite those programs, he added.

"If you wanted to give a report that gave you all the costs associated with a project, for example, you would have to run several reports in several different systems that don't necessarily talk to one another," Bridges said. "So what you have to do, in effect, is speak to several different people because no one person could give you all the cost."

DOTD has made some strides toward consolidation in the form of an initiative called the data warehouse, which enables the department to collect all cost and project information from several sources into one place and create a consolidated report. The test program was successful, but needs to be expanded.

"Our budget is limiting us," Bridges said. "It's important that we get this accomplished and be able to track this data because we need to be able to show the public that we can deliver projects on time and on budget, but you've got to have data to back you up before anybody will believe you."

Ultimately, Bridges plans to develop a mechanism to accurately predict revenue and expenditures, which will facilitate long-range project planning and budget assessments.

Bridges, like Secretary Bradberry, came from the private sector, which complements Grant's history in public service. Their combined expertise enables the team to foresee inevitable roadblocks and more creatively strategize overcoming those obstacles, Grant said.

"I was interested in this job because I was a former customer - either as city administrator, downtown development director or port planning director - and I wasn't always satisfied with the product I was getting," Grant said. "I could complain about it or be a part of fixing it."

A self-described workaholic, Grant has a full agenda he plans to address during his tenure, including the Interstate 49 project, expansion of the Huey P. Long and Florida Avenue bridges, new rail service possibilities, as well as the development of public-private partnerships or tolling to fund such projects.

"If we are going to continue to grow, we have to figure out a way," Grant said. "We propose to look at every effort available to us to make things happen."

Bradberry has asked Grant to explore options for more effectively managing the disadvantaged business program and to chair the committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems, a favored project for the deputy secretary. ITS starts with the integration of technology and people to optimize other, existing systems, he said.

DOTD is already utilizing ITT to monitor traffic on the interstates with video cameras and message boards to facilitate the flow.

"Those kinds of things will help us maximize what we have," Grant said.