The urgent need for a governance transformation in road public investments

Renaud de Montaignac // Nicolas Miravalls

Our road networks are common goods to take care of. Their construction remains in essence a vehicle for governments to foster economic growth, and even to kick it off. There is no need to recall the immense benefits and the unequaled capacity of roads to allow a very local connectivity, efficient transport of goods and people, easy access to workplaces, to hospitals, to education, etc. Roads are the best assets already in place to roll out electric or hydrogen cars, the next generation of buses or the last mile truck deliveries. Leveraging the existing road network is definitely a major piece in the equation for a responsible transport policy, the so-called “sustainable mobility” at the forefront of policy debates of the moment. 

There is also a recurring voice pointing to car emissions, transport pollution, dieselgate, etc. Statistics show figures as high as 17% carbon emissions coming from the transport sector at large with 7% from cars alone. These are strong signals that it is time to start the end of the ancient world and engage the technology revolution !

Less carbon for sure… but no more roads would be a too definitive answer ! Let's not sacrifice the oldest means of connectivity, inherited from our ancient “Roman road” or “silk roads”, all symbols of civilization development and prosperity. More and more people need mobility. Our capacity to offer safe and decent mobility often remains the best lever to avoid large human transhumance across megalopolis or even worse, across continents. Development banks reckon the world definitely still needs roads. The ultra local mobility revolution in our cities will require different public infrastructure for bikes, pedestrians, and all kinds of new vehicles of 3, sometimes 2 or even 1 wheel ! Thus we need more adapted roads and infrastructures. 

Let us collectively develop new tools for our roads, new perspectives and enter the 21st century, with digital inputs, improved management, optimized data, additional service and innovative algorithms. We can now give some new and advanced potential to this very traditional - sometimes tired - road network. Data management is opening a new chapter for road infrastructure. 

The construction sector, in particular in roads, is very far behind in the current digital revolution. Productivity is still low, and no major evolution has happened over the last 25 years while other sectors consistently show effective progress and steady innovation. Our infrastructure keeps being overcosted, over delayed, and under-performing.

Public governance and procurement rules can certainly evolve to embrace new requirements, and welcome new technological capabilities. It is even a matter of urgency so public decision-makers remain at the center of public investments. Innovation, new digital tools, new processes must be welcomed in this empiric construction sector. We see that development banks and many public authorities have taken a radical turn in recent years, after long standing on the previous model… and this is a welcome change for the entire system.

Innovation can play a role, and will, with or without current players.  The construction industry is talented and has the capacity to innovate, being at the forefront of real needs for it. While reinventing itself in a reasonable timeframe, this industry will certainly avoid the new wave to wash out all existing players, as we can see in other sectors ! Still, the battle might be tough ...