Road Maintenance System And Operation Mechanism Reform

The road maintenance and operational system under the planned economy context was incapable meeting the needs of rapid development of roads. Furthermore, it hindered the development of road maintenance to some extent. Thus, we must carry out reform in the road maintenance and operational system. The reform of road maintenance and operational system commenced after the launch of tentative regulations of road maintenance by introduction of marketing interventions and the regulations of the bidding system on road maintenance on June 1 2003. These regulations attracted strong attention from road departments and bureaus at various cities and regions across the Country and this has forced and brought the road maintenance into an orderly legal system. The profits and benefits will be greatly increased and performance quality of road maintenance will be enhanced if road maintenance and management methods are fundamentally changed.Based on the requirements under the market economy system, the road departments and bureaus at various cities and regions have adhered to the principle of "streamlining institutional structure, improving mechanisms, separating the business and non-profits operations, eliminating inappropriate approaches, strengthening management, rationalizing staff members and enhancing efficiency". As a result, it has promoted and facilitated the reform of road maintenance and operational mechanisms. The paper outlines a number of appropriate road maintenance and operational programs, e.g. 4 reformed programs of highways, main road and non- main road and rural village level road; 9 programs with implementation of a vertical slice approach in road maintenance incorporated with an improved management system; strong efforts in promoting entrepreneurial management and facilitating the management structure into a management system from a production system; establishment of an improved and appropriate road maintenance system with a focus of road maintenance; formation of an effective competition mechanism and reduction of cost with an aim to playing a positive role in improving maintenance quality and benefits.However, there are lots of works to do because the road maintenance and operational mechanism are in an initial stage, thus, all the road bureaus and departments in different cities are required to carry out reforms to continue to practice and explore new approaches in order to establish a suitable and effective road maintenance system which is appropriate in a Chinese context. It is also expected that the road maintenance and operational system must be in line with the requirements under the market economy system to meet the needs of rapid development of road maintenance.The paper focuses on the discussion of issues on road maintenance and operation during the reform and puts forward several proposals and suggestions in reforming the mechanisms. It is hoped that the paper is able to provide some new ideas and thoughts for reforming the road maintenance and operational mechanism.