Parsons Services:
Program administration and management; information management systems; data management support; instructor, inspector, repair technician, and orientation training programs; quality assurance/quality control programs;
and customer
relations

Inspectors
Trained to Date:
11,600

Repair Technicians Trained to Date:
3,430

Facilities
Accredited to Date:
2,100

Vehicle inspection

As the prime contractor for Ontario's Light-Duty Vehicle and Heavy-Duty Vehicle emissions inspection programs, Parsons was tasked with integrating Drive Clean's data management system with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation's vehicle registration system to ensure that vehicles pass emissions tests before their registration can be renewed. Integrating the two systems took place in just one month, from December 1, 1998, when the contract was signed, to January 2, 1999, when the first vehicle emissions tests were performed.

Ontario's Drive Clean Program was launched in record time, just five weeks from contract signing to program start-up. In addition to implementing a quality assurance program, Parsons developed specialized scheduling programs to ensure that station operators had time to meet inspection test requirements and that inspectors could pass the training programs.

Parsons manages three segments of the Light-Duty and Heavy-Duty Vehicle emissions inspection programs:

• Information Management Systems Initiatives, including development and application of system programs, software, operations guidelines, and procedures for monitoring, storage, and maintenance. Parsons also manages all data and data transfer for other Drive Clean Program contractors.

• Drive Clean Related Training, including Light-Duty Vehicle program emissions inspectors and repair technicians, nontechnical orientation, Heavy-Duty Vehicle emissions inspectors, and all program instructors.

• Drive Clean Related Light-Duty Vehicle and Heavy-Duty Vehicle program Quality Assurance/Quality Control Tasks, including station accreditation; overt auditing of inspectors and facilities; covert auditing of inspectors, repair technicians, and facilities (Light-Duty Vehicle program only); record audits; referee services; and facility follow-up.

Emissions data input

Parsons developed its proprietary Vehicle Inspection Process for Emissions Reduction (VIPER) data management software for Ontario's Drive Clean Program. VIPER has processed more than 4.1 million vehicles since program startup in January 1999, proving that it can manage high volumes of data daily. To ensure that all provincial specifications for data integrity and security are met, access to the database requires several levels of verification. All data is stored in the main system, and a remote redundant backup system is designed to activate automatically and immediately in an emergency.

Orientation training class

Recruitment and training began in October of 1998. Recruitment was handled jointly by Parsons and Ontario's Drive Clean office. Training focuses on three areas—inspectors, repair technicians, and nontechnical orientation—thereby ensuring that everyone involved with the Drive Clean Program receives uniform training. Parsons provides all training services, including convenient home study with Web-based examinations. Parsons also trains the program's instructors and sustains the quality of all training services, using Ontario's network of community colleges and technical institutions to accurately and efficiently deliver the curricula.

Ontario audit van

As the QA/QC contractor, Parsons is responsible for the integrity of the Drive Clean Program's network of 2,100 facilities and its thousands of emissions inspectors and repair technicians.

Scheduled and unscheduled audits help Parsons monitor program activities. Parsons also collaborates with the Drive Clean I/S team on daily analysis of the information collected at the Drive Clean Facilities to determine where overt and covert audits are needed.

During its first year (1999), pollutants from vehicles in the Drive Clean Program area dropped by an estimated 6.7 percent. By the end of its second year, Drive Clean reduced emissions that cause smog by an estimated 11.5 percent in the Toronto and Hamilton areas. By July 1, 2002, Drive Clean will expand to cover the southern Ontario smog zone, in which nearly 5.7 million vehicles are registered.

Parsons has earned the strong support of the many stakeholders in Ontario's Drive Clean Program. Parsons provides presentations on the program and its benefits to industry, ministries, schools, and the public, upon request.

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