Business Trend of Road Safety Industry

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study: 1) the overall future picture of businesses in the road safety industry; 2) characteristics of future road safety equipment; 3) criteria for selecting contractors for the production, installation, and maintenance of road safety equipment; and 4) efficient, honest, and fair bid submission process of the contractors for the production, installation, and maintenance of road safety equipment. This research employed a Delphi technique by conducting three rounds of in-depth interviews with 17 experts from the road safety industry who had knowledge and expertise on road safety equipment as well as worked in the fields that were related to businesses in the road safety industry. They were selected by purposive sampling. Each round of interview was scheduled two months after the previous one. Data were analyzed with content analysis. Frequency, median, and quartile deviation were used to examine the significance level and consistency of the experts’ opinion on future expectations throughout the three interview rounds. The research findings showed that: 1) in terms of the overall future picture of businesses in the road safety industry, factors that could lead to safety on the road included research studies aiming to test the quality of high-technology equipment and advanced digital systems; 2)in the future, road safety equipment would adapt alongside the development of  autonomous vehicle technology, there would be an increase in the use of electricity generated by solar power and research studies for diverse and high standard contemporary equipment and technology, and quality of personnel involved with the production, installation, and maintenance of road safety equipment would be improved to meet higher standards; 3) in the future, there would be a more strict system for selecting contractors for  the production, installation, and maintenance of road safety equipment; only those with experience would be selected, especially experienced engineers, and the Government Procurement and Supplies Management Act B.E. 2560 (2017) would be enforced more strictly; and 4) in the future, electronic systems would be used in all bidding submission process for the contractors for the production, installation, and maintenance of road safety equipment; there would be a change in job guarantee as more time would be allowed, and there would be new monitoring techniques as stated in the Government Procurement and Supplies Management Act B.E. 2560 (2017). These research findings are beneficial for the determination of policies and strategies for businesses in the road safety industry. Research studies on high-technology equipment and contemporary digital systems should be conducted, and organizations producing, installing, and providing maintenance of road safety equipment must prepare and produce equipment that will be adaptable to a future situations. These actions will increase safety on the road, reduce the loss of life and property, and increase country gross domestic product (GDP).