Performance-based indicators as a tool to manage energy efficiency in transport. Case study in Spain

In the last years, many public authorities have promoted Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for roadways based on PerformanceBased Indicators (PI) linked to bonuses and penalties. PIs in PPPs include many items related to the quality of service provided to the users (safety, congestion, and pavement condition) and energy efficiency. This paper evaluates the implementation of key PIs for Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA)-skid resistance, bearing capacity, and international roughness index (IRI)-from the standpoint of the most efficient (cost and energy) way of manage assets. At this extend, our goal is to analyse the requirements set in four PPPs up that were awarded in Spain in order to estimate the trade-off between costs and benefits caused by the implementation of PIs in PPPs versus standard agreements. We have found that even though performance indicators in PPPs are positive because they push the private sector to be more efficient, the requirements set by public authorities up in PPPs seem to be too demanding. It is because roadway maintenance costs linked to PIs are higher than user's costs savings over time. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.