Policy Improvements for Winter Road Maintenance in South-East Europe

Abstract

Weather, as an important factor for traffic conditions, will have increased significance in South-East Europe (SEE) due to ongoing climate change. Consequently, SEE countries in transition will need to reconsider their winter road maintenance (WRM) practices. This article aims at providing a starting point for improving WRM practice. Focusing on Serbia, the article first provides a critical evaluation of existing WRM state of the practice. The core issue identified is a lacking practice in economic evaluation of WRM investment decisions. In addition, the article presents methodology and an example case study for economic evaluation of WRM investment decisions based on cost-benefit analysis. Results indicate an economic justification for investing in improved WRM practice. Finally, the article concludes that WRM policy improvements need to base on knowledge transfer from international best practice, improvement in performance measurement, methods, and technologies, accompanied with an essential change in institutional culture to accommodate policy learning.

User Perspectives on Distance- and Time-Based Road Tolling Schemes: European Case Study

“…At the moment, there is an ongoing policy process governing the upgrade of the outdated manual toll system, related to possible changes in infrastructure financing (Glavić et al 2016). Thus, the upgrade of the toll system is related not only to conventional policy objectives for the national motorway network in southeastern Europe, such as lack of public funding (Glavic et al 2016). Policymaking in connection with pricing scheme upgrades is also framed around the ongoing integration into the EU transportation system as part of the wider societal transition toward EU membership.…”

Decision Support Framework for Cycling Investment Prioritization

“…This bike route is intended to serve dual purpose, for touristic biking along Montenegro coast and for daily-commute movements in cities on route. As previously identified in the context of South-East Europe, planning and policy for sustainable transportation face knowledge gaps in relation to investment decisions and significant budgetary constraints [55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. Thus, route investment needs to realise in stages, so division to sections and prioritization of sections need to be done.…”

Emergency response readiness of road maintenance companies

“…Te organizacije u svim državama na svetu imaju isti naziv i fizički su odgovorne za obezbeđenje prohodnosti i nesmetan saobraćaj na putevima bez obzira da li se radi o privatnim ili državnim organizacijama, odnosno internim ili eksternim kapacitetima. Kratko, radi se o preduzećima za održavanje puteva [3][4].…”

“…situacije u Republici Srbiji i povezanih organizacija [4] Kao jedan od primera uređenih odnosa u oblasti saobraćajne infrastrukture može se navesti srpski Pravilnik o urgentnom održavanju državnog puta [7] kojim se utvrđuju vrste radova, tehnički uslovi i način izvođenja urgentnih radova na održavanju državnih puteva, putnih objekata, saobraćajne signalizacije i opreme. Ovaj Pravilnik se efektivno može posmatrati kao protokol za izvođenje radova na urgentnom održavanju definišući sledeće aktivnosti tokom i neposredno nakon vanrednog događaja:…”