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Ontario Ministry of Transportation:
International Registration Plan (IRP)
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Integrated registration system provides a one-stop solution for truck and bus operators
needing to register and pay fees to travel throughout the U.S. and Canada
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) supports a prosperous provincial economy by ensuring the safe and
efficient movement of commercial vehicles over Ontario’s roadways.
The MTO, which operates (2002/3) with a budget of nearly $1.8 billion and 4,225 employees, is responsible for a
variety of programs, including driver and vehicle registration and licensing, road user safety, provincial highway
infrastructure management and GO Transit. On a typical day in Ontario, 2,650 road tests are performed, 10,055 driver’s licenses
issued and 156,000 GO Transit passengers carried.
For many years, Ontario-based commercial carriers – trucks and buses – travelling in other Canadian provinces did
so under the authority of the Canadian Agreement on Vehicle Registration (CAVR). Carriers travelled throughout the
United States pursuant to 41 ‘full and free’ reciprocity agreements, allowing them to travel in the 41 U.S. jurisdictions
without the need to purchase trip permits or pay full registration fees. The imminent cancellation of these reciprocity
agreements prompted Ontario to join the International Registration Plan (IRP) on April 1, 2001 as one of 59 member
jurisdictions in North America.
The IRP is a North America-wide registration system that allows commercial vehicle operators to register their vehicles,
apply for travel credentials and pay fees to travel in multiple jurisdictions – all through a single window. Otherwise
operators would need to separately purchase the individual trip permits required by each jurisdiction – state or province
– they travel through.
Challenge
Joining the IRP meant that Ontario would need a new system that would administer IRP business rules and support
new processes required for vehicle registration, fee collection, permit issuance and the distribution of collected fees to
the 58 other member jurisdictions.
Previously, staff had to use two separate systems – MTO’s legacy Vehicle Registration (VR) system to process
commercial vehicle registrations; and the Single Application for Vehicle Registration system used for Canadian
inter-jurisdictional travel credentials and fee payments under the CAVR. With the number of carriers and vehicles to be registered
expected to double upon joining the IRP, and the volume of transactions expected to triple, the MTO was concerned
about being able to handle the workload and provide quick, efficient service to its commercial carrier customers.
A new system was clearly needed to support the IRP program that had the capacity to handle the registration of large
fleets – some commercial vehicle fleets have as many as 700 vehicles running in 20 jurisdictions – and was efficient
enough to handle the increased transaction volume in a timely fashion acceptable to both staff and customers.
Objectives
MTO’s Road User Safety Application Solutions Branch (RUSASB) was given the challenge of developing the new IRP
system that would:
- Deliver new business processes and automated systems to support ‘one-stop shopping’ for registration and fee
payment for any destination in North America;
- Provide accurate accounting, auditing and reconciliation of international fee rates, including collection and
redistribution back to originating member jurisdictions;
- Provide fast, efficient service to industry customers;
- Leverage the functionality and critical data embedded within the existing Road User Safety Division’s legacy Vehicle Registration system.
Solution
In an effort to minimize cost and not ‘reinvent the wheel’, MTO initially chose to develop the new IRP system based on
an off-the-shelf commercial product. After finding that this solution simply couldn’t deliver the functionality needed or
integrate properly with the legacy VR system however, the RUSASB decided that a custom-built solution was required
– but the calendar showed December, 2000, and April 1, 2001 was only four months away!
In an all-out, in-house effort – and through the efficiency gained from tactics such as lifting the Fees Module from
B.C.’s system and modifying it for Ontario’s use, the MTO was able to complete the development of a new system in
time to meet Ontario’s commitment to IRP. Here are some of the key data management and user interface features
that make the system a convenient, single window for registration and payment:
- Legacy system integration - maintains data integrity with the ministry’s overall Vehicle Registration system;
- Fee calculator - comprised of fee schedules and complex algorithms provided by 59 member jurisdictions;
- Graphical User Interface (GUI) – gives MTO staff in 13 IRP offices a single interface for quick and intuitive
registration;
- U.S. funds management - eliminates daily manual adjustments necessary when handling U.S. currency;
- Administration portal - complements the application by converging various administrative areas into a single view, thus streamlining the administrative process.
Innovative Use of Technology
Apart from supporting IRP business rules, the key benefits of the new system are performance and customer service.
By streamlining the registration and administrative process – including eliminating the need to conduct processing
on two different systems – the implementation of the IRP system has resulted in cost savings and improved internal
organizational effectiveness. For example, the MTO had initially expected to hire an additional 20 staff to handle the
expected increase in transaction volume following April 1. The overall system effectiveness, performance and seamless
integration with the VR system however, made additional hiring unnecessary – a significant cost avoidance
approximating $1 million annually!
Just as important, however, is the improved level of service that commercial customers are experiencing. In an industry
where every second counts, the timeliness and simplified payment process provided by the ‘one-stop’ registration and
payment system results in a more satisfied customer. That single fleet of 700 vehicles operating in 20 jurisdictions we
mentioned earlier can now be registered, validated, invoiced and closed in 2-3 hours, rather than 2-3 days as before.
In addition to performance and customer service benefits, increased employee satisfaction is another by-product of
the new system. MTO staff have an easier time processing IRP applications now that they are not constantly working
across multiple systems.
A 2004 CIPA Winner!
For its exceptional and innovative application of Information Technology to solve real world business problems and
bring greater benefits to all its stakeholders, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation was awarded a 2004 Canadian
Information Productivity Award of Excellence in the Efficiency & Operational Improvements category.
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