Value for money is becoming an increasing requirement of road administrations as governments come under increasing pressure to effectively maintain the existing infrastructure and to respond to improved and new service demands. The road budget in turn is coming under increasing pressure to meet these demands and alternative funding sources are being actively pursued. Setting project priorities is becoming a major task and tools are needed to evaluate projects within the broader context of economic, social and environmental issues. Communities, conscious of the impact of road initiatives on their quality of life, are becoming more involved and communication and publicity mechanisms are becoming common practice. The intent is to provide services that meet road needs within the broader context of moving people and goods within an integrated transport system. In order to meet these demands, new funding sources are being addressed, particularly through the private sector. Revenue sources, which take the form of a general tax, road user charges, direct tolls or indirect (shadow) tolls are under constant examination. Measuring performance of the road system and road administrations is becoming more apparent as greater accountability is demanded. The effective performance of the road system is dependent on all these issues, and more. PIARC Committee C9 on Financing and Economic Evaluation highlights the need to develop more stringent methodology in assessing the impact on projects, particularly those reflecting non-monetary issues. The Committee also suggests that the way forward to finance and implement projects is to develop public-private partnerships, with each party accepting its relevant share of risk. PIARC Committee C15 on the Performance of Road Administrations identifies the application of improved management systems, including quality systems, as a way forward in achieving efficiencies. Such systems need to be supported by a performance management framework to ensure that results are being achieved and improvements identified. A restructured road sector is envisaged, which has a commercial focus and which addresses road needs within the context of the total transport system. Some member countries have responded to specific issues in their National Reports and these responses, together with issues raised by Committees C9 and C15, have identified a number of key matters for further discussion at the World Road congress in 1999. These include addressing such matters as financing of road infrastructure, the impact on the economy and the community, efficiency measures and performance management. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118727.
Abstract