RAWALPINDI, Oct 18: The National Highway Authority (NHA) is formulating a policy to revise the toll rates on national highways with a view to increasing its revenue, it has been learnt.

A report on the road sector development programme says Rs8.4 billion were generated, 70 per cent of the revenue, in 2007 for maintenance of the national highways through tolls. Still, the NHA feels that this revenue venue is not adequate to meet the maintenance demand of the road network.

Most of the national highways have been brought under a tolling regime, and the toll revenue, and the report stated that it has ensured a stable and secure source of funding for network conservation and maintenance. The network maintenance needs are increasing with the enhancement in service level, addition of new roads and expansion of the existing roads, notes the report.

The transport sector in the country has experienced tremendous growth and has been one of the driving forces behind national economic growth. Recognising the need for a comprehensive transport policy, the government has undertaken several initiatives to develop a comprehensive national transport policy for the country.

However, the government has not yet been able to finalise a national transport policy framework with an aim to establish long-term strategic vision and ensure commitment to effective practices by all transport agencies. The national transport policy formulated with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank was still under review of the Ministry of Communications.

On the other hand, the NHA has prepared a long-term financial business plan 2007-2020 for approval by the government to ensure a sustainable and credible financial resource for implementation of the development programme.

The report pointed out that one of the basic problems in the transport sector is the lack of coordination, collaboration and cooperation among the concerned government agencies. This needs to be addressed before implementing policy reforms that require the participation of inter-ministerial departments.

Different types of roads are under provincial and district governments. There is a need for legislative dialogue to implement policy reforms for the entire country.

A report of the ADB emphasised the need for a national institution with core staff committed to road safety programmes, including research in and development of road safety. There is also a need to coordinate through relevant federal and provincial government organisations for implementation of the road safety programme on the entire road network.

The report says the Ministry of Communications was seeking funds from external resources to launch a sustainable mechanism to maintain such an institution.

Various measures have been introduced to reduce road accidents in the country. The NHA and Motorway Police were trying to improve the knowledge, capability and training of personnel associated with the accident prevention. Efforts were made to increase road safety awareness among road users and communities.

National agencies were established to oversee road safety efforts at policy, operational, community and agency levels to conduct black spot (accident prone locations) mapping, establish road design standards and conduct road safety audits. The enforcement, monitoring and evaluation procedures for road safety initiatives were also established.

The report states that allocations for road maintenance increased from 38 per cent to 50 per cent. Road assets have been preserved by restricting overloading and through installation of weigh stations at strategic locations on the national highways. The initial constraint was that truck transporters were not happy with partial implementation covering only some of the networks—weigh stations installed on national highways only.