Traditionally, heavy vehicles have been regulated by tightly defined prescriptive limits (such as mass and size limits), which provide little scope for innovation. This traditional approach provides a 'one size fits all' outcome, despite significant variations in road and traffic characteristics across road networks, and between urban and inter-city or inter-region routes. An improved regulatory system would encourage innovation and provide a better match between vehicles and roads. Under a. performance-based approach to regulation, standards would specify the performance required from vehicle operations rather than mandating how this level of performance is to be achieved. This report demonstrates how performance standards can more directly regulate safety outcomes and infrastructure protection than current prescriptive regulations. Examples of such performance-based standards are provided from a number of countries. The introduction of performance-based regulations will bring many challenges, such as public perception, political acceptance, institutional changes and changes to enforcement practices. These implementation issues are examined in the report. The introduction of performance-based standards could advance safety and freight transport efficiency. The extent of these improvements is dependent on the standards set. A chapter on potential outcomes reviews a number of scenarios and their effects on safety, productivity and infrastructure protection. (Author/publisher)
Abstract