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

STANDARDIZED LEVEL-OF-SERVICE SCALE FOR THE CONDITION OF THE ROAD ASSETS - BASES, PRESENT SITUATION AND A RECOMMENDATION FOR A SCALE

TIEOMAISUUDEN KUNNON YHTENAINEN PALVELUTASOLUOKITUS - PERUSTEET, NYKYTILA JA SUOSITUS LUOKITUKSEKSI

The public roads and the related structures and equipment constitute the road assets owned by Finnra. The maintenance and development of road assets aims to offer society a level of service that meets its expectations. The volume, quality, condition and maintenance of the road assets are all contributory factors to the level of service provided. The significance and contents of the level of service vary somewhat according to whether the road assets are looked at technically or from the viewpoint of the whole society or the road user. A few established condition indicators are presently used for measuring the level of service of the road assets. Most indicators have a four- or five-step condition scale. The scales are primarily based on technical variables, but the connection with the factors of the perceived level of service is often obvious. The scales are derived from the indicators themselves and do not have standardized bases or definitions. On the other hand, there are a lot of common features. The need for a standardized set of concepts that can be used in the debate about the state of the road network and in justifying the needs of road management is the primary reason for standardising the level-of-service grading of the road assets. Standardisation also provides better comparability of the condition of road assets across different parts of the country or the road network. The following, consistent five-step scale is proposed for the measurement of the level of service of the road assets: (A) Very good: Like new. (B) Good: In good condition. (C) Satisfactory: still satisfies needs and requirements. (D) Poor: Needs repairing. (E) Very poor: Condition is clearly worse than can be accepted. There are separate sets of definitions for the grades from the technical, road-user and societal viewpoints. The scale is uniform at the conceptual and relative levels. Thus, the absolute grade boundaries of the different condition indicators are not identical for the whole road network. The introduction of a consistent level-of-service scale requires, as the next step, that the descriptions of the condition grades of the various components of the road assets be partially redefined. The absolute boundaries of the grades and the criteria for condition inventories must also be revised taking account of the road users' different expectations in different parts of the road network. The link between the condition indicators and the road users' perceptions should therefore be studied. The principles and possibilities of combining the condition data on different components of the road assets should be defined, too. Using a standardized level-of-service scale more widely in measuring the level of service of road assets should be assessed and promoted. Cooperation with municipalities and the other transport administrations aiming at the creation a standardized level-of-service scale for all transport infrastructure assets is recommended.

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  • Corporate Authors:

    Finnish Road Administration

    Opastinsilta 12 A, P.O. Box 33
    Helsinki,   Finland  FI-00520
  • Authors:
    • Metsaranta, H
  • Publication Date: 2004

Language

  • Finnish

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00984502
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
  • ISBN: 951-803-293-9
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Jan 7 2005 12:00AM