The socio-economical meaning of maintenance of low volume roads

Models for the economic assessment of road maintenance are mainly designed for roads carrying high traffic volumes. They either do not apply or are not very suitable for low-volume roads. Roadway class and minimum level of service considerations are often more important for low-volume roads than the level of traffic. Low-volume roads comprise connecting and regional roads with traffic volumes of less than 200 vehicles a day. Methods for assisting in the programming of road maintenance for low-volume roads is not available in Finland or elsewhere in the world. However, base data and process flows required for estimating the social aspects of maintaining and upgrading of low-volume roads exist or, at least, are under development. This study presents a verification and calculation method suitable for the social assessment of the maintenance and upgrading programs for low-volume roads and bridges. The road characteristics examined are surface treatment, road base, bridges, equipment and fixtures as well as the gravel surface. The evaluation method takes account of maintenance and upgrading costs as well as savings achieved in related maintenance activities. The method is based on the road's importance and its level of service class. The central principles are safeguarding a minimum acceptable level of service and implementing projects based on level of service targets in which social importance is taken account of as much as possible. Social importance is measured with the VYM index. It specifies the road's social significance in terms of costs and savings. Its scope of application is restricted to low-traffic roads, for which a cost-benefit ratio does not apply. The method is a tool for assisting in setting the direction for low traffic road maintenance and improvement investment plans based on social factors. Maintenance activities for actual road segments are examined. Road maintenance programming and decision-making are thereby supported. The method, as such, is not suitable for policy work at a national level. It can though provide new insights, also about policies. The method has been tested using data from Kaakkois-Suomi region of Finnish Road Administration. This report may be found at http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/julkaisut/pdf/3200935-v_vahaliikenteisten_teiden_yhteiskunnallinen.pdf