The Province uses three different, yet related, methods of measuring the effectiveness of Highway Maintenance activities. The primary tool is the Department's Highway Maintenance Standards that includes field audits to monitor compliance with the standards. In addition NSTPW conducts two annual surveys, a Road Condition Survey and Customer Satisfaction Survey, both covering the Provincial Highway System. The Highway Maintenance Standards (HMS) consist of specifications for each maintenance activity including what constitutes a deficiency and how long NSTPW forces have to repair the deficiency. The Road Condition Survey (RCS) is performed by nine crews who conduct detailed inspections of randomly selected 200 meter sections of roadway. This covers four different classes of roads, high volume arterial, trunks & routes, local paved roads and local gravel roads. The annual Customer Satisfaction Survey is contracted out to a market research firm that conducts a telephone survey to monitor and assess satisfaction levels of Nova Scotians regarding Provincial highways. This allows the Department to compare results with those of previous years in order to track which services are improving and which are not.
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