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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

USER ASPECTS ON MANAGEMENT PLANNING OF ROAD AND RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

A new method has been introduced in the planning of road and railway infrastructure management. It is based on segmentation of the transport network according to different demand characteristics. It also sets more focus on the demands of the transport network user than conventional methods. With this method, it is possible to evaluate the traffic conditions of freight and passenger transport in different parts of the road and railway network and estimate if the condition and maintenance corresponds to user demands. As far as logistic processes in the private sector are concerned, cost efficiency and punctuality are the most important factors. Forest, metal, chemical and construction industries demand especially bearing capacity of a road network. The bearing capacity enables the use of heavy loads in transportation, which improves cost efficiency. In some parts of the road network, a sufficient level of service is required. For example, in transportation of perishable food products and building materials, the roads must be fluent to use in order to sustain the punctuality. The level of service of the road network can be affected by improving winter maintenance, or traffic capacity, for example, by building additional road lanes. In railway transportation, cost efficiency and the bearing capacity of the network are important for the industry. The structural condition of the road is not good enough on such parts of the main and regional roads, on which cost efficiency is particularly necessary for transportation. In addition, some road sections that require medium cost efficiency, are in many places in poor structural condition. As far as the surface condition of the road is concerned, the situation is much better. There are no such capacity problems on the road network, which would affect the punctuality of freight transport. The rail network has many connections, where technical conditions do not fulfil the needs of freight transportation. In passenger transportation on the rail network the situation is in reverse: the rail network and the equipment in it have been improved or are being improved also in those parts of the network, where traffic demand is low. The decisions which deal with development and, partially, also maintenance of road and rail infrastructure, the focus has usually been on the demands of passenger transportation. The situation is especially problematic in railway traffic, because the oversupply of the passenger transport services and infrastructure diminishes the cost efficiency of railway transportation.

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  • Corporate Authors:

    Ministry of Transport and Communications

    ETELAESPLANADI 16-18
    HELSINKI,   Finland  FIN-00131
  • Authors:
    • MANTYNEN, J
    • VARJOLA, M
    • JOUTSENSAARI, J
  • Publication Date: 1999

Language

  • Finnish

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00920396
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
  • ISBN: 951-723-227-6
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Mar 6 2002 12:00AM