The state's new transportation secretary is shaking things up in an effort to get politics out of his department.

When Governor Bev Perdue took office, she signed an executive order requiring Secretary Gene Conti to put a new highway construction approval process in place within 60 days. She also directed the N.C. Board of Transportation to delegate the authority to Conti to award highway construction projects.

While addressing the Board of Transportation Wednesday, Conti said efficiency and transparency are in the future, and asked members for clear signs on how he and his department are doing.

"You have to hold us accountable and ask us, ‘why?' ‘What happened?' ‘What can we do to make sure we hit those targets?'" Conti said.

Evaluating performance is part of the board's new role, which includes making transportation policy. Board member Nina Szlosberg, who has served for eight years, said she's happy about the changes.

"I think this is a good time for us to be thinking about how to do things more efficiently, driven by data, and taking the politics out of transportation," Szlosberg said.

A breakdown shows the road to reform is based on long-term goals, which includes public input and makes use of a 20-year plan, a 10-year plan and a five-year work plan according to Conti.

"We want to create a real work program -- a five-year program that has credibility that will be delivered on time and under budget," Conti said.

Conti will have the final say on awarding contracts but stressed the importance of the board's oversight.

The big difference from how things used to be done, Conti explained, is having an open decision process. He said the idea is keeping unrealistic projects off the agenda.

"Projects got on not because they were important for transportation reasons or mobility reasons or safety reason, they got on because they had a powerful advocate somewhere, and we want to end that process," Conti said.

Conti said projects will be evaluated based on data, and local governments will have more input on goals.

Szlosberg believes the new system creates more confidence than the old.

"A system that might have worked well 50 years ago but failed the state recently," she said.