Big performance assessment decision by NHAI - Now, highways too will be ranked on quality!

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is known for taking various measures and steps to improve roads for the convenience of the citizens of India. Now, in the latest move in its effort to improve the quality of roads, NHAI has taken a major decision to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country.  The assessment audit and ranking of the National Highways (NHs) are aimed to take corrective recourse, wherever needed, to improve the quality and provide a higher level of service to highway commuters.

Assessment parameters and criteria

-The assessment parameters are based on different international practices and studies for benchmarking highway performances in the Indian context.

-The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads: Highway Efficiency (45%), Highway Safety (35%) and User Services (20%).

-On the basis of the outcome of the assessment, the authority will undertake a comprehensive analysis and decide on the level of intervention required to enhance the overall service quality.
 
-Additionally, important parameters like operating speed, access control, time taken at the toll plaza, road signages, road markings, accident rate, incident response time, crash barriers, illumination, availability of Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), the functionality of structures, provision for grade-separated intersections, cleanliness, plantation, wayside amenities and customer satisfaction will also be considered while conducting the assessment. 
 
How scoring and rankings will take place eventually?

- The score obtained by each Corridor in each of the parameters will provide feedback and corrective recourse for higher standards of operation, better safety and user experience to improve existing highways.

- The ranking of the corridors will be dynamic and the concessionaire/ contractor/ operator will get the opportunity to improve upon their ranking by improving the services on that corridor.  

This will also help in identifying and filling gaps of design, standards, practices, guidelines and contract agreements for other NHAI projects. Apart from overall ranking of all the corridors, separate ranking for BOT, HAM and EPC projects will also be done. 

This process of ranking will bring out operational efficiency and ensure high-quality maintenance of roads.