A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region

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A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region The documents contain sets of indicators (outputs and outcomes) for activities that are linked to policy outcomes as well as for the outcomes themselves. In this way, they form the core of a robust performance management system that cascades national transportation performance goals throughout the agency and down to local governments. Increased User Involvement Increasingly, highway agencies are considering the needs of users as central to their activities. This is the result of a shift from building highways to moving goods and people. In order to move people, it is not only necessary to provide infrastructure but also the right infrastructure at an acceptable cost to the user. All agencies have formalized structures for receiving user feedback, including the representation of road users in the agency’s internal advisory boards and committees. Box 3.1 Involving Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in South Africa South African National Roads Agency Limited’s (SANRAL’s) procurement policy is aimed at stimulating growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), promoting Black Economic Empowerment and training for historically disadvantaged South Africans. In particular, for routine road maintenance, SANRAL revisited its model contract resulting in a situation where: The main contractor operates as a management contractor with 80 percent or more of the work being carried out by small contractors; the main contractor is responsible for training and mentoring the sub-contractors; Consulting engineers are hired for design and supervision in addition to a SANRAL road manager; Low entry barriers for small contractors are maintained; and There is no exploitation of small contractors. 3.4 Main Activities - from Building Highways toward Moving People and Goods The scope of the core tasks of the agencies reviewed differs to some extent between countries (Table 3.2). As also already noted, there are some differences in the extent to which the agencies are responsible for road sector policy development; although they all have, at the very least, a strong advisory role. Differences are also noted in terms of traffic and incident management services, and licensing and registration services. Table 3.2: Division of responsibilities in studied highway agencies Main area Task Responsibility New Zealand NSW South Africa Sweden Network Policy development MoT MoT MoT MoT/STA Strategic planning NZTA RTA SANRAL STA Network implementation NZTA RTA SANRAL STA Maintenance Regular maintenance NZTA RTA SANRAL STA Management Traffic management network wide RTA Traffic management (local) NZTA, SANRAL STA Traffic Mgmt NZ Incident management 16 NZTA, police RTA various Police Licensing and Registration NZTA RTA RTMC STA Overload control NZTA RTA SANRAL STA Note; MoT (Ministry of Transport) is the ministry responsible for transport policy. It may have a different name or be part of a larger ministry; NZTA is New Zealand Transport Agency; SANRAL is South African National Road Agency Limited, RTA is Road Transport Authority in New South Wales, Australia; RTMC is Road Traffic Management Corporation; STA is Swedish Transport Agency 16 In case of no injuries. 52
A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region Whereas the Road Transport Authority (RTA) in New South Wales, Australia, covers almost the entire network with traffic management instruments, the scope of traffic management is more restricted in other countries. In South Africa and Sweden (prior to 2010), the agencies were not involved in licensing and registration services. These tasks lay with a separate agency under the ministry. The trend in the scope of tasks in the four cases shows a shift from building highways towards moving people and goods. Client and delivery functions have been separated. The agencies focus on planning of activities, defining standards and guidelines for the execution of work and services, and monitoring of their execution. The delivery organizations are corporatized or privatized. All four agencies use private sector contractors to execute maintenance services and, in some cases like South Africa, to execute traffic management services. Also South Africa provides a good example of how SMEs can be involved in the execution of routine maintenance activities and increasing overall sector capacity for executing maintenance activities. The shift in focus towards planning, control and management of activities increasingly requires the need for accurate information on delivery processes and outcomes, use of planning tools and risk management systems, and different skills from agency staff. 3.5 Increased and Continuous Concern for Environment and Safety Issues Closely related to the integrated transportation planning and delivery approach is the trend that agencies focus on environmental and safety issues. All agencies have greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies in place as part of the performance measures focused on environmental concerns. Also transport safety strategies and management plans are part of their performance framework. Sweden has probably the most well developed environmental management and safety plans incorporated into its performance framework and has inspired many other countries worldwide. The Swedish Transport Agency (STA) example illustrates the success of a transport agency in reaching beyond its normal stakeholders to create alliances in other sectors to address cross-cutting issues such as vehicular safety and emission reduction. It cooperates with transport companies (public transport and trucking) to improve fuel efficiency, and with the automobile industry to enhance safer vehicle design. 3.6 Performance and Accountability - Increased Need to Demonstrate Results These agencies clearly feel the need to monitor their performance and publish this information. In short, they are aware of the fact that the government and public hold them accountable for the results achieved with the means provided to them by the taxpayer. This results in close monitoring of financial flows as well as approaches to evaluate investment and expenditure options. Availability of Wide Range of Performance Documents All agencies have a wide range of publicly available, professionally produced reports and documents containing performance information, evidence of their commitment to open communication. The level of detailed information on performance indicators for a wide range of activities shows that this is seen as an effective way to inform the public on the agencies’ activities and to create awareness on the importance of the agencies’ activities to public interests (improving access, safety, environment, efficiency and reliability of the network). 53
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Transport Division Transport, Water
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A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region

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