2009 - World Bank - Road Network Evaluation Tool

RONET is a model which could be used by decision makers to appreciate the current state of the road network, its relative importance to the economy (e.g. asset value as percentage of GDP) and to compute a set of monitoring indicators to assess the performance of the road network. Call it HDM-LITE.

With RONET the performance of the road network is assessed over time under different road maintenance standards. It determines, for example, the minimum cost for sustaining the network in its current condition and estimates the savings or the cost to the economy for maintaining the network at different levels of services. RONET determines the allocation of expenditures among recurrent maintenance, periodic maintenance, and rehabilitation road works, determines the optimal maintenance standard for each road class (highest Net Present Value) and compares it with the current (budget constraint) and other maintenance standards. Finally, it determines the "funding gap" defined as the difference between current maintenance spending and required maintenance spending (to maintain the network at a given level of service) and the effect of under spending on increased transport costs. The Road User Revenues Module estimates the level of road user charges required (e.g. fuel levy) to meet road maintenance expenditures under different budget scenarios. This could be used by road fund boards to prepare a business case to negociate and revise road tariffs on a sound basis.