Public Procurement of Winter Road Maintenance Services Based on EU Procurement Directive − Lessons from Sweden

Abstract

Public procurement of road maintenance services, particularly in cold regions is not an easy task in order to satisfy road-users during winter. Road-users' dissatisfaction, complaint and pressure can usually be considered as major factors for having more accessible and safe roads during winter. These pressures have contributed and led to an increasing critical approach focusing on public procurement of these services after some harsh winters in the recent years in Sweden with traffic disruption and delay as consequence i.e. an increasing focus on the way in which the Swedish state authorities and local governments procure winter road maintenance services. The present study which is part of a larger research project investigating efficient winter road maintenance through procurement, tendering and contract aimed at extending this knowledge base with regard to procurement and socioeconomic factors with focus on the winter maintenance of the Swedish road network. The study reveals that even the Swedish winter road maintenance services are procured and outsourced in accordance with EU directive and public procurement rules transposed into the Swedish act on public procurement, the act has been interpreted in a manner that all the process has led to great dissatisfaction of end-users during winter due to improper bundling of winter related services. The lack of economic motivation in current contracts concerning winter road maintenance in the form of incentives has led to an inefficient performance of winter road measures. The study suggests a number of proposals in order to make forthcoming contracts more effective through proper bundling of winter services and create incentives for contractors to improve the performance of winter road maintenance services.

Systematic Knowledge Sharing in a Natural Hazard Damage Context: How Organizational Borders Limit Lessons Learned

“…Lessons learned are, in this article, defined as lessons drawn from individuals’ own experiences through feedback processes in a purposively chosen manner (Abdi, Lind, & Birgisson, ; Abdi et al, ; Le Coze, ; Salmon et al, ; Spiekermann et al, ). Lessons learned is a key component for better understanding problems, and ultimately for finding the best practices or solutions (Abdi et al, , ; Le Coze, ; Salmon et al, ; Spiekermann et al, ). Scholars such as Leveson (), Le Coze (), Salmon et al (), and Spiekermann et al () argue that loops of feedback and learning are rather complex, involving many actors and levels of society.…”

“…In 2013, STA was the single largest publicly procurement agency in Sweden, with 21 percent of all public procured contracts (SCA, ). The STA argued that the process of a complete outsourcing of operation and maintenance, design and construction would lead to a more efficient administrative client organization (Abdi et al, ). The aim was also to increase the pace of innovation and to improve production (Abdi et al, ).…”

Payment mechanisms for winter road maintenance services

“…Winter road maintenance services are bundled with other road maintenance services into Area Maintenance Contracts (AMC). Abdi, Lind & Birgisson (2013b) discuss whether this kind of bundled contract is the best option.…”

“…Its main focus is to provide deeper knowledge and understanding of the payment mechanism for winter maintenance tasks in Sweden that are integrated in more comprehensive contracts and bundled with other road maintenance services. As the earlier studies revealed (Abdi, Lind & Birgisson, 2013b), several road maintenance services are bundled in a questionable manner in current Swedish road maintenance contracts. Focusing on the payment mechanism and the possibilities of improving it, the general conclusion and recommendations are as follows: From a risk allocation perspective, the combination of a fixed part and a weather dependent part seems to be the rational choice.…”

“…Another important aspect of creating long term incentives for the contractor is discussed in another study (Abdi, Lind & Birgisson, 2013b) and relates to the procurement process for contractors. Incentives are strengthened if contractor performance in the current period is an important determinant of whether the contractor will get the contract for the coming period.…”