A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region

A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region
1.4.1 Literature Review
1.4.2 Data Collection
Figure 1.3: Overview of the methodology for the study
The literature review provided the framework for the analysis; the World Road Association
(PIARC) framework 1 was used to this end. The framework incorporates two dimensions: the
organizational type of the highway agency, and the stage of maturity of the road network
under the highway agency. Figure 1.4 describes this framework; it shows an increasing
involvement of the private sector and a growing focus on organizational management.
Table 1.2 shows the five stages of development of a highway agency that are linked with
this evolution.
Each highway agency is unique; it operates in a specific environment and is responsible for
a specific road network. The imposition of a ‘one size fits all’ framework upon organizations
that operate in different milieus is unlikely to succeed, since specific indicators dependent
on its individual case are required for each highway agency. Nevertheless, the framework
proposes a consistent and complete set of indicators to be used and also provides the
outline of an ‘ideal highway agency.’
Data collection was focused on gathering information that could help in assessing the
current capacity and performance of highway agencies, as well as to understand the
operating environment and challenges faced by highway agencies.
Data were collected in two phases. In the first phase, individual consultants visited the
1 The Steering Committee of Programme Committee C15 developed a discussion paper on road network and road agency trends for a range of economic and
social systems, entitled Framework for the C 15 Work Program 2000-2003 (August 2001).
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