Road Weather Management Program
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Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Effects of Outsourcing and Performance-Based Contracting on Innovations

Abstract:

Savings of 13 to 28 percent were recorded as outsourcing and performance-based contracting was introduced in Swedish highway maintenance, in line with 21 percent gained in Massachusetts and 12 percent in Virginia. Few negative effects on service, environment and quality were noted. An international comparison of French and Swedish approaches supported the finding that outsourcing has lowered the pace of R&D as compared to in-house production systems. The policy to develop complementary innovation promotion within the outsourcing model will continue. Measures within, or complementary to, the model are multi-criteria bid evaluation, alternative bids, on-line monitoring, bonus, penalties and profit-sharing, competence development, partnering, and weather regulated performance-based contracting. While reduction of time (by e.g. smarter methods and machinery) is mainly an economic matter, reduction of chemicals is also an environmental matter. The contractor is paid each time weather sensors report that the conditions (temperature and humidity) are such that deicing action is expected to be necessary. Preventive action is encouraged to prevent road icing. Snow must be removed within 2 to 8 hours depending on the specified level of service for each road. There are typically 2 to 10 weather stations in an area, and the average reading determines the payment (unit price based). In 2005, all Swedish operations and maintenance contracts will be weather regulated performance-based contracts.

Source(s):

84th Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden). For an electronic copy of this resource, please direct your request to WeatherFeedback@dot.gov.

Date: 2005

Author:

Stenbeck

Keywords:


Costs
Institutional issues
Winter maintenance

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