Document Library

The purpose of this scan was to identify best case examples of the application of asset management principles and practice in U.S. transportation agencies. The scan was sponsored by American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP).

This circular discusses a workshop conducted by the Transportation Research Board. The goal of the workshop was to discuss data management practices. 15 agencies participated, and all of them answered a questionnaire about their data management, the results of which consist of the majority of the report. Using the accumulated data, the workshop focused on common issues that many agencies face, such as data quality and access, and breakout groups reported what they considered the number one issue in data management, and proposed solutions.

Adopted in 2006, New York's long range plan updates their 1996 plan with their vision for transportation through 2030. The plan is aligned around five themes deemed important by the transportation users: mobility and reliability, safety, security, environmental sustainability, and economic competitiveness.This plan includes trends for demographics, economics, travel patterns and energy, and it presents them within the perspective of the future transportation system. The plan also describes the funding sources and needs from 2005 to 2030. Published before MAP-21 and the FAST Act, this long range plan does not have the distinct performance measures expected in modern plans.

This synthesis report addresses challenges and related to establishing and strengthening state DOT training, development, and education programs. The report presents a literature review and survey of 24 states, supplemented by interviews.

This plan concerns managing the risks from a low level of skid resistance. When the level of friction between the road surface and a vehicle tire is insufficient, such as when the road is wet, the risk of a skid and a crash rises dramatically. This plan does three thing: it establishes the Queensland Department of Main Roads (QDMR’s) objective and strategy for skid resistance; it describes the actions necessary to implement the strategies; and it identifies the processes used to manage skid resistance.

This study examines pavement deterioration models used in New Zealand. Local models, as well as models based on HDM-III and HDM-4 were examined. The research focused on how the various models were calibrated with a focus on the model for the development of cracks, which the authors identified as a crucial component of pavement deterioration. The models showed that once a crack initiates, the pavement will begin to deteriorate much more rapidly, even with a resurfacing, emphasizing the importance of crack-prevention.

The report discusses risk assessment and risk management in the context of a road safety network. The framework used in the join Australia and New Zealand standard for risk management (AS/NZS 4360:2004). Issues discussed include: consultation and communication, identifying risks, analyzing risks, evaluating risks, treating risks, establishing context, monitoring and review. Examples of risk used involve road trauma, legal and, and the risk from negative publicity. Case studies are included.

The Highway Asset Management Plan (AMP) was developed in 2006 as the first phase of an effort to create a Transportation AMP for the Portsmouth City Council. The document outlines agency goals, the relevant outcomes that would help to achieve the goals, and the method of delivery. Relevant sections include goals and objectives, an asset inventory, levels of service, planning and operations, service delivery, implementation, and communication and reporting practices.

Transportation asset management is a data-intensive process and data integration is a fundamental component to improve integrated decision making. The evolution of geographic information systems and spatial technologies is providing powerful mechanisms for developing asset management decision-making products. However, many agencies are struggling with the development of these spatial products on an enterprise basis. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Transportation Asset Management Committee (ABC40) and Spatial Data and Information Science Committee (ABJ60) hosted a peer exchange to investigate state and local agency applications of spatial technologies for asset management activities and to identify ongoing issues and research directions. Six state and local transportation agencies were selected based on their leadership and progress in the application of spatial technologies towards asset management. These six agencies were the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public facilities; the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; the Kansas Department of Transportation; the New York State Department of Transportation; the New York State Thruway Authority; and the NC Department of Transportation. Prior to the peer exchange, agency participants completed an extensive questionnaire on their uses of spatial technologies, their history of implementation, and perceived benefits and issues. The peer exchange participants focused on three major issue areas in moving spatial technology applications to the next level: managing change, data integration, and communication. Upon a thorough discussion of these issues, the peer participants identified research to address three areas of interest: temporal issues, symbology, and data and visualization models. The roles of national organizations in sharing best practices and in promoting standards and open data architectures were also discussed. This circular contains the presentations of the perspectives of the six agencies, a summary of agency responses to the questionnaire, and a summary of the major issues and research directions for the future.

The two volumes included in this report--Volume I, Research Report, and Volume II, Guide for Performance Measure Identification and Target Setting--will help transportation agencies apply the concepts of performance management to their asset management efforts. Volume I describes the research effort and provides the current state of practice on the use of performance measures, principally in the context of transportation asset management. Volume II introduces a framework for identifying performance measures and setting target values, and its appendixes contain examples of performance measures and targets. The emphasis was on highway infrastructure assets. Performance measures and target values are critical to the principles of asset management to analyze tradeoffs, make investment decisions, and monitor intended effects. The report will be of interest throughout transportation agencies as an aid to effective decision making and the optimization of resources.

The aim of Part 7 of the Guide to Asset Management is to provide guidance on the application of asset management concepts and principles for the management of a broad range of diverse road related assets. The strategy framework is applicable to all road system assets. Guidance on managing the specific performance characteristics of pavements and structures is provided in Parts 5 and 6 respectively of the Austroads Guide to Asset Management. (a) PDF available for purchase.

This case study documents Indiana DOT's development of an asset management program. The program that proved to be most helpful for economic analysis at INDOT was HERS, an investment-performance model that was developed into a personalized format titled HERS-IN. Integration of HERS-IN, along with a suite of other tools, has allowed INDOT to build a comprehensive asset management program.This report is part of the FHWA Office of Asset Management's series of case studies on TAM, produced with the goal of sharing information between agencies to improve efficiency.