Research On Jilin Province Highway Management System

By the end of year 2007, China's total highway mileage has reached 53,600 kilometers, ranking second in the world. Rapid completion and improvement of the highway network is of great importance to China's politics, economy and national defense construction. But till now there is no unified national management model, different provinces (regions) have varied highway construction and management method, and at different historical stages of different provinces, there exists the confliction of the administration organization and the enterprises, as well as things stand hybrid status of wavering. At present, uniformity of the management system is not ripe, this work should be started from the beginning, from a province to a region, and finally form a unified system across the country. Therefore, there is a need to design a most suitable scientific management system for a province, and be prepared to implement the national management system. Jilin Province's highway mileage has reached 942 kilometers by the end of 2008, highway network has gradually been constructed and improved. There is a common problem (faced by other provinces) in Jilin Province in the development of highway construction, also there is a unique problem of Jilin Province. In this thesis, the theory of public economics is adopted for highway basic property analysis, clarifying the highway unique property's influence to the selection of management system. In combination of Jilin provincial expressway's construction and operation management, domestic and international highway management experiences and enlightenment are learnt, thorough analysis and researches are carried out on highway management of Jilin Province, i.e. separation of construction and management, multi-management subjects, irrational establishment of management organizations and multi-law-enforcement issues, a scientific and effective management system fitting actual situation of Jilin Province should be commenced. This thesis is composed by the following three sections.Section I: Summary of Relevant TheoriesFirst of all, the concept of highway shall be defined and analyzed. Second, a brief introduction of the content of highway management and the definition of highway management system shall be made. In this section, the author makes a detailed analysis on unique property of the highway and the external environmental impact factors, highway with the properties such as "network, the quasi-public goods, the differential benefits, the natural monopoly and the intensive capital" requires the highway management system to be government-led, market-supporting, unified, centralized, dependent on the orderly, effective and efficient regulatory. Analysis of external factors on highway management system is only about the impact of economic and administrative system. The establishment of highway management system is not only affected by the level of the entire socio-economic development, but also by the economic system and administrative system. The reform and restructure of highway management system shall also be in line with the framework of macro-economic system and administrative system.Section II: Analysis on Highway Management System of Jilin ProvinceJilin Province Highway Management System shows the diversity of mixed-rate trend. This cause many problems: First, poor investment system with social financing difficulties. Jilin Province is of relatively backward economy, due to the limited traffic volume, the investment return rate is not attractive to the society. Second, construction and operation are isolated and the investment is of diversification characteristics, resulting in separation and confliction among the responsibility, power and profit, therefore, the harmonization of the highway and the play of overall effectiveness are influenced. Third, linear administrative organizations are established unreasonably, with low management efficiency. Fourth, the existence of multiple law enforcement results in confusion in law enforcement and waste of human resources. Fifth, reform of maintenance system is facing the dilemma situation. The successful bidding companies for highway maintenance tend to seek for maximum economic benefits, could not fulfill the maintenance requirements. And the unified model of operation and maintenance is inconsistent with rules of the market. Sixth, the jurisdiction between above administrative authority and the operating agency is unclear, resulting in supervision functions weakening in the industry.Section III: Reform Ponder of Jilin Province Highway Management SystemBasic information of highway management system at home and abroad is introduced at the beginning of this section. The common characteristics worthy of our attention are as following: First, the Government has already attached great importance to the development of highways, during the process of construction and development, the Government has always played a leading role. Second, clear and stable sources of funding are available. A special fund is set up through various road taxes, bonds, loans from financial institutions and highway fees. Third, universal implementation of franchising. Fourth, perfect law system ensures an effective supervision. At present, there are mainly three models of highway management system, i.e. centralized management system, mixed enterprise-institution system, and enterprise centralization franchise. Their common features are of three aspects: First, it is helpful for raising fund and financing, the kind of management model which different provinces adopt mainly depends on the manner of which meeting the financing requirements of the province. Second, the models are tending to be centralization management, meeting the needs of highway network and public property. Third, models to be selected are due to numerous factors, i.e. operating efficiency, preserve and increase of the assets value.With the profits from domestic and foreign advanced experiences, the basic tentative plan for reform of Jilin Province Highway Management System is proposed. First, highway asset management committee should be established, clearing about the main subjects for property right and operation. Jilin Provincial Communications Department fulfills the responsibility of highway property ownership on behalf of the Country; Jilin Provincial Expressway Administration Bureau fulfills the fund raising responsibility on behalf of Jilin Provincial Communications Department, implementing management and supervision on highway property and its operation; Jilin Expressway Group Corporation and other enterprises are responsible for highway construction financing and project management; The managerial highway enterprises have the property right during the stipulated legal time, accepting supervision from Jilin Provincial Expressway Administration Bureau. Second, reform of highway construction system need to be fulfilled, the highway construction function should be transferred to Jilin Provincial Expressway Administration Bureau, with implementation of the Project Construction Agent System. Third, the management mechanism should be changed, and a centralized and efficient management system should be formed. Key points of the reform is to change the linearized management to regionalized management, and establish a management organization within the radius of 50 kilometers, distracting from the original one organization for one road model, both to reduce the complex management procedures and simplify the management organization, increasing management scope and efficiency. Fourth, Jilin Provincial Expressway Administration Bureau implements toll collection for highways in Jilin Province, establishing a special toll-collection account and a scientific account separating system. Therefore a powerful supervision over the managerial companies could be fulfilled. Fifth, reform of maintenance marketability shall be enhanced, it should be started from the internal maintenance marketability simulation, then open the highway maintenance market gradually, realizing healthy competition and achieving high efficiency. Sixth, the highway traffic safety function should be incorporated from the traffic police department into Jilin Provincial Expressway Administration Bureau, synthesis law enforcement team shall be established with the road administration department, responsible for highway traffic safety and highway administration law enforcement, therefore the number of administrative staff could be reduced and the management efficiency could be improved.In summary, reform of Jilin Province Highway Management System shall achieve the following three goals: First, the property right shall be clarified. The highway is of national infrastructure, this attribute shall not be changed because of different investment origin and different investment subject, in spite of the various management models, the state's ownership of the highway shall not be changed. Therefore, the highway institutional management can better suit its public welfare requirement. Second, only with centralized management model can maximize the network efficiency. Third, the simplified administration mechanism would be helpful for achieving the management goal by establishment of regional management organization. Fourth, supervision shall be implemented according to laws and regulations. The competition mechanism shall be introduced into highway management for raising work efficiency, meanwhile, the government supervision shall be strengthened to ensure the public interests and improve the public administration effectiveness.