Performance indicators for the road sector
Seeing the trend for public accountability of road administrations and noting the many reform efforts undertaken in transport sectors around the world, the OECD established a Scientific Expert Group on Performance Indicators for the Road Sector in 1996 to provide its member countries a framework for assessing road administrations' performance. The results of the Expert Group's work is presented in this paper.Fifteen indispensable, forty primary, and thirty-five secondary indicators are proposed to portray the road sector from different perspectives. They are designed to be changed in response to human needs and technological development and supplemented by country specific indicators. In keeping with this approach and in support of one of the maxims of the Expert Group that 'useful performance indicators are those which are used', an application in the form of a Field Test is now in progress by an OECD task force.The Performance Indicators proposed are grounded in a mental model adopted by the Expert Group. This model is management by results model, and is useful as a theoretical tool in the many highly fluid contexts in which restructuring is moving forward. In the model, the products and services are judged by standards or criteria; outcomes – derivatives of products and services through user interface – are judged relative to objectives and user satisfaction. The achievement of objectives, however, is not proposed as the only or even primary basis of evaluation. The situation is more abstract and complex. Therefore, the various uses of Performance Indicators – including the opportunities to assist road administrations in becoming learning organizations – are given much emphasis in the paper. The views and conclusions in the paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the World Bank or its affiliated organizations.
Performance Indicators for the Road Sector SUMMARY OF THE FIELD TESTS « TRANSPORT
Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14th December 1960, and which came into force on 30th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: – to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; – to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and – to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. Kingdom and the United States. The following countries became Members subsequently through accession at the dates indicated hereafter: Japan 3 FOREWORD The Road Transport and Intermodal Linkages Research Programme (RTR) is a cooperative approach to transport issues among Member countries of the OECD. The Mission of the RTR Programme is to promote economic development in OECD Member countries by enhancing transport safety, efficiency and sustainability through a research programme that recommends options for the development and implementation of effective transport policies for Members, and that encourages outreach for non-member countries. The research on Performance Indicators for the Roads Sector was initiated in 1995 by a scientific expert group under the leadership of the RTR Secretariat. A major recommendation of this Group was to create a Taskforce to conduct a coordinated set of field tests for selected performance indicators. The Taskforce was established in 1997 with the objective of refining the indicators selected by the Scientific Expert Group and testing them over a period of two years. The field tests would allow the applicability of the performance indicators to be evaluated in order to determine their value in improving the management of road administrations. The following countries participated in the field test: ABSTRACT ITRD N°E 108267 Following the recommendations of the OECD 1997 report, Performance Indicators for the Road Sector, a task force was established to field test a selection of 15 performance indicators used by road administrations throughout the world. The objective of the project was to assess the applicability of the performance indicators to improving the management of road administration. The field test was conducted over the period 1997-99 in 15 Member countries. This report outlines the approach adopted and summarises the results of the field tests. The 15 indicators …
TRANSPORTATION, PROBLEM-SOLVING AND THE EFFECTIVE USE OF COMPUTERS
THE ARGUMENT OF THIS PAPER RIDES ON THE CONJUNCTION OF THREE THEMES' /1/ THE SCOPE AND COMPLEXITY OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROBLEMS, /2/ THE STRUCTURE OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AS A PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS, AND /3/ THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY FLEXIBLE, MULTI-USER, REMOTE-ACCESS INTERACTIVE COMPUTING SYSTEMS. ANALYSIS OF THE SCOPE AND COMPLEXITY OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND OF THE PROBLEM- SOLVING PROCESS LEADS TO THE CONCLUSION THAT TRANSPORTATION PLANNERS NEED HIGHLY FLEXIBLE SYSTEMS WITH A VARIETY OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING TOOLS. ANALYSIS OF THE NEW COMPUTER SYSTEMS SHOWS HOW THEY WILL PROVIDE ENVIRONMENT FOR THIS REQUIRED FLEXIBILITY. THUS, OUR TASK IS CLEAR-TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT A FLEXIBLE PROBLEM-SOLVING SYSTEM FOR TRANSPORTATION PLANNING. BRIEF EXAMPLES ARE GIVEN TO SHOW SPECIFIC SYSTEM DESIGN IMPLICATIONS OF THE ARGUMENT PRESENTED. /AUTHOR/