Evaluation of a mechanism for urban road maintenance by level of service

The agency responsible for constructing and maintaining urban roads in Chile has initiated a pilot programme under which responsibility for the maintenance and preservation of urban roads falls within the scope of the private sector, which assumes the commitment to maintain roads in an adequate condition in exchange for a pre-established payment, called urban road maintenance by level of service. The purpose of the research described in this paper was to evaluate the implementation of contracts by level of service. This evaluation was based on comparing total costs (direct and indirect) with the traditional method, considering the savings in operating costs and the impact on users as well as the benefits. Statistical information was considered relating to types of structure, types of road, travel demand, level of road distress, threshold of intervention, construction, maintenance and operating costs, and impacts. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that it is feasible to apply urban road maintenance contracts by level of service at both a technical and an economic level, and that such contracts should be applied for specific types of road, pavement conditions and types, and contract periods.