Government

Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board

Motor Carrier Licensing System
Remote Connectivity Design

Customer Profile

Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, Motor Carrier Licensing System

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB) is an independent quasi-judicial body with both regulatory and adjudicative jurisdiction over a wide scope of subject areas including electricity, gaming, liquor licensing, and public passenger motor carriers. The NSUARB is responsible for the regulation of all public passenger carriers within Nova Scotia and inter-provincial carriers operating to or from Nova Scotia. Carriers are broadly defined to include commercial bus companies, school bus operations, and van pools with a capacity of 9 or more passengers. Its mandate includes licensing, approving fares, routes, stops, and equipment, as well as hearing complaints against carriers, and hearing applications for modification or discontinuance of service. The Board acts under both the Motor Carrier Act and the Federal Motor Vehicle Transport Act. The Motor Carrier Division of the NSUARB administers a comprehensive safety inspection program for all public passenger vehicles. These vehicles are inspected twice a year by the inspection staff of the Motor Carrier Division.

Business Situation

The NSUARB was using an old system written 20 years ago for their Motor Carrier Licensing System. Tired of struggling with this old system, the NSUARB decided to acquire a new system for the Motor Carrier Division. In order to make this a worthwhile project, they needed to implement much new functionality within the new system but also allow for the ability to perform all the licensing functionality of the old system. One of the challenges of implementing the new functionality was being able to keep information current on the inspector's laptops that are out in the field.

Solution

Nicom was chosen by the NSUARB to plan and create its new system. Nicom created the system as a .NET Windows application, so that both the inspectors in the field and personnel in the main office could use it. This system had to be designed in such a way as to update the main database with the inspector's work and then send all the changes back to each inspector. Also, consideration was given to the fact that many licenses have attached legal documents. Therefore, the database synchronization process was created to accommodate changes in these attachments as well as in the main database.

Benefits

Now that the new Motor Carrier Licensing System is in place, inspectors have remote access via laptops. This allows the inspectors to access data that they previously didn't have and cuts down on the transfer of paper between the NSUARB and the inspectors. New functionality has enabled the inspectors to view all license and carrier information, run various reports, transfer plates from one vehicle to another and add new vehicles. Inspectors are able to enter and edit such things as report data, driver warnings and journal records. The system design of the new Motor Carrier System is also used to issue temporary authorities and single trip licenses, manage license renewals, and schedule inspections. Moreover, system tables have been added to make it easier to maintain and report from. Nicom has been there to assist the NSUARB with implementation of the new Motor Carrier Licensing System to ensure quality, security, and to work through any modifications or enhancements required by the Motor Carrier Division.

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