Document Library

To date, there has been a great deal of variability in how state highway agencies have established maintenance quality assurance (MQA) program components and how the results have been used to establish accountability, improve highway maintenance effectiveness, establish budget requirements, and allocate resources. Therefore, a domestic scan was organized through the U.S. Domestic Scan Program, which is managed under the auspices of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). The domestic scan took place in October 2011 in Anaheim, California. The scan’s specific objectives included: 1. Explore the experiences of top-performing agencies, examining the degree to which their business plans and system-preservation strategic plans are linked to their MQA programs; 2. Identify successful strategies for linking customer expectations to agency performance measures; 3. Examine the variables that have most influenced the use of MQA results to improve agency accountability and/or support budgeting and resource allocation decisions; 4. Examine if, and how, different data measures, data-collection procedures, and data verification activities influence MQA program costs and the use of MQA results; 5. Examine the ways in which innovation has been incorporated into MQA programs; 6. Explore the ways highway maintenance and preservation information is presented to senior management, elected officials, and the public; 7. Explore the strategies (e.g., education and training programs) that have been used successfully to build buy in and accountability among field personnel; and 8. Identify technical and/or organizational challenges to overcome and strategies to improve the use of performance measures for highway maintenance and preservation activities. The findings and recommendations from the scan are summarized in this report.

Case study of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and transit asset management.

Development of an Asset Management System by UT Transit Authority (UTA)

Update on Climate Adaptation Pilots. Some transit agencies are already taking initial steps. FTA is taking action to help the industry and protect the federal investment. Historic weather patterns are no longer a good guide to future weather patterns. We must plan for asset preservation under future conditions.

TRB conducted a webinar on August 29, 2012 that examined the results of an international scan that assessed mature risk management practices in Europe and Australia. In June 2011, a team of 11 U.S. transportation professionals with expertise in risk management visited four countries in Europe and Australia: Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, and England and Scotland in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the scanning study was to examine mature risk management practices in these countries and learn how they had developed their policies and procedures to identify, assess, manage, and monitor risks. The scan was conducted under the auspices of the International Technology Scanning Program, which is conducted by the Federal Highway Administration in cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The presentations will detail the team's observations: Risk management supports strategic organizational alignment; Risk-based asset management improves investment decisions; A wide range of risk management tools can optimize performance; Active risk communication strategies improve decision-making; Mature organizations have an explicit risk management structure; Successful organizations have a culture of risk management; Risk management enhances knowledge management and workforce development.

WSDOT is developing a Transportation Asset Management (TAM) Plan. The Best Practices in TAMs identified in sources are state DOT’s, regional, local agencies, and internationally are included as available. Those TAMs that were successful in terms of implementation and were well communicated are provided where information was available.

Final words on the 9th National Conference on Transporation Asset management

MARTA- Asset Management Implementation and Integration, presented at the Fourth State of Good Repair Roundtable.

NYCT-Asset Breakdown Structure and Asset Condition Inspections, and the decision to move to enterprise-wide asset management, to align capital investment with maintenance and operations toward optimal whole-life costs.

FTA - SGR Round Table Whole Life Asset Management July 17, 2012

Overview of NTD. Contains FTA data on annual transit agency finances, costs, and operations; •Gathers certified data for formulas that determine the annual apportionment of more than $5 billion in FTA grant funds; Is used to assess the future investment needs of the nation’s transit operators for Congress; Is available to researchers and transit operators across the nation.

4th State of Good Repair Roundtable, July 16-18, 2012, Philadelphia, PA