| The winter weather conditions of north and north eastern territories of Japan are cold and snowy. Especially、 in many municipalities of Hokkaido (the northern most island of Japan)、 the average temperature from December to March is below Zero Celsius and the average annual period of snow cover exceeds 100 days. In 1956、 a Special Measures Law for Ensuring Road Traffic in Snowy and Cold Areas was enacted to ensure smooth winter traffic that supports winter living in cold、 snowy regions. Although winter road management in Hokkaido has been improved after the regulation of studded tire use. But traveling speeds in winter have remained extremely low and skidding accidents account for 90% of the prefecture’s “winter-type” road accidents. In order to improve the performance of winter road traffic under budget constraints and environmental concerns over the use of anti-icing agents、 there is a need for accurate and efficient winter road management. In Japan performance measurement has been used in measuring economic effects as a part of public project evaluation and in evaluating each program of a public project. [*]Road administration organizations of the government have been striving to improve their administrative activities more effective、 efficient and transparent. They have been doing this by placing importance on the perspectives of citizens. [*]To realize this goal、 government organizations have been employing a management system that has “Plan-Do-Check-Act” cycles. But a few studies have addressed performance measurement and evaluation for winter road management. [*]In this study、 a logic model、 widely used for program evaluations、 was employed to conduct performance measurement for winter road management. The model describes the logical flow of elements necessary for performance measurement as a diagram with inputs、 activities、 outputs and outcomes flows、 And it makes it possible to visually understand the relationships between the elements. Logical tracking from the initial inputs to the end products makes it possible to accurately formulate a systematic policy and determine each outcome toward achieving the final goal. |
