A Categorical Study On The Highway Administration Of China

Due to historical reasons, in the highway traffic management systems, theresearches of theory between administrative management and administrative law havelagged behind. Many administrative laws and regulations are enacted withoutadequate prepared administrative theory. These result narrow understanding of manylaws and regulations about highway management including “Highway Law of thePeople’s Republic of China”(hereinafter referred to as the “Highway Law”).Highway management is mistaken for protecting the highway property and right ofhighway or enforcing the law on the highway. In fact, highway management ishighway administration. The integrated administrations are implemented specificallyby highway management organizations with the law, including the management ofhighway planning and implementation, construction management (including designreview and quality supervision), maintenance management, protecting, chargingmanagement, communication management, operation and service management. Allthose are dominated by the government and the transportation departments.Domestic scholars’ researches are basically based on the existing narrowhighway management. The definition of the highway management is too narrow,which leads to many problems, such as administrative functions are not clearlydefined, and the department heads own too much power, the administrative behavioris lack of legal supervision. The author studies the highway management in developedcountries and finds that there is no “Highway Management” in the United States,Britain and France. However, what these countries have is comprehensiveadministration on the highway. In the trend of super-ministry system reform, theconception of Chinese highway management should not be confined to the lawenforcement on the highway, but to learn from the experience of highwayadministration in the United States, Britain and France. A concept should beestablished that the highway management is the highway administration. This article demonstrates the “highway management” is the “highwayadministration” from the point of view of administrative management andadministrative law. It also resolves issues related to redefining the conception ofhighway management and provides proposals for the improvement of the reform ofhighway management agencies and related laws and regulations. Finally, this studydraws summary and conclusions.