Japan has a 1,177,000km road network and New Zealand has 92,000km. In both countries, specially important trunk roads such as expressways and national highways are managed by the national government or the organizations related to the government. The considerable portion of the expenditure for construction, maintenance and operation of the road network is paid by users as fuel taxes, automobile taxes, road use fees etc. The other portion of the expenditure is filled up with other revenues such as the tax which the local governments impose. The budget for road network management is planned and allocated to each road control authorities by the long-range plans and the allocation systems in accordance with national strategies. However, the budget for road management is not enough for the expenditure required for new investments, maintenance and operations. This paper overviews the condition of the road assets, road management activities and budget allocation systems comparing the situation of both countries. Then it verifies the issues of the above and suggests some solutions, especially to Japan. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E212706.
Samenvatting