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Going Beyond Theory at the Fifth National Conferences on Asset Management
Moving from Theory to Practice” was the theme of the Fifth National
Conferences on Asset Management, which were held in Atlanta, Georgia,
from September 29–30, 2003, and in Seattle, Washington, from October
21–22, 2003. The conferences each drew more than 130 participants,
with attendees representing a broad spectrum of Federal, State, and
local governments; universities; industry; and other private organizations.
At both conferences, State and local government speakers discussed their
agencies’ implementation of transportation asset management (TAM)
and described the challenges they faced, along with the solutions found
and the prospects for further success. TAM is a strategic approach to
maximizing the benefits from resources used to operate, expand, and
preserve the transportation infrastructure. The Atlanta conference featured
the experiences of the Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania Departments
of Transportation, along with such localities as Hillsborough County,
Florida, and Alcona, Kent, and Oakland counties in Michigan. The Seattle
conference, meanwhile, highlighted TAM implementation by the Arizona,
Michigan, and Washington State Departments of Transportation, as well
as local government experiences in such places as Multnomah County,
Oregon; Cole County, Missouri; and the City of Redmond, Washington.
Each agency described different elements of, and strategies for, asset
management implementation, including the use of analytical tools and
management systems, the role of information technology, the establishment
of procedures for data collection and integration, and the need for
cooperation and collaboration to ensure success. “The presentations
demonstrated the importance of using TAM to improve system performance
and agency operations,” noted David R. Geiger, Director of the
Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Asset Management.
A highlight of each conference was six interactive workshops that participants
could choose from. The first workshop session focused on tools that
can be used for TAM, such as life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and benefit-cost
analysis. Panelists from FHWA described the economic concepts that underlie
the trade-off analysis used in some of these tools, while representatives
from Cambridge Systematics, Inc., gave an update on National Cooperative
Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-57, “Analytical Tools
for Asset Management,” which is developing additional user-friendly
TAM tools. Attendees then got to hear the real-life experiences of Oregon,
Pennsylvania, and New York.
Oregon has been using its own version of FHWA’s Highway Economic
Requirements System (HERS) model since 1997 for Statewide transportation
decisionmaking. It has proven to be a valuable transportation planning
tool, such as when used to analyze different investment scenarios for
an update of the State’s Highway Plan. Across the country, the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has been conducting
LCCA studies for all Interstate pavement projects with an estimated
initial cost of more than $1 million and for all other pavement projects
with an estimated cost of more than $10 million. Because of its LCCA
policy, PennDOT has achieved, among other successes, improved overall
performance of pavements and lower costs for new pavements and rehabilitation
work. And in New York, the New York State Department of Transportation
(NYSDOT) has developed a prototype TAM Tradeoff Model that uses economic
tradeoff analysis to compare the dollar value of customer benefits to
investment costs among competing transportation investment candidates.
When the model is fully operational, NYSDOT will be able to target agency
resources more productively among its pavement, bridge, safety, and
mobility goal areas. More information on these State experiences can
be found in a series of case studies available from FHWA’s Office
of Asset Management. To obtain a copy, contact FHWA at 202-366-0392.
The second workshop session looked at private sector applications of
asset management, including use by General Motors and the railroad and
energy industries. In workshop session three, meanwhile, FHWA provided
a state-of-the-practice summary of asset management data integration
among State and local agencies, and practitioners reported on their
experiences in integrating different data systems to support the TAM
process. For example, at the Atlanta conference, attendees heard how
the South Carolina Department of Transportation evaluated a Web-based
software for gathering, collating, segmenting, and distributing real-time
information from multiple and disparate data sources. They also heard
how the Georgia Department of Transportation developed data standards
for geographic information system applications and how the Kansas Department
of Transportation built an enterprise database architecture. In Seattle,
presenters from the Montana, Oregon, and Washington State Departments
of Transportation described their work in integrating bridge management
data, developing a Web-based information portal, and establishing location
referencing system and data standards, respectively.
TAM can also be used as a tool for communicating with decision makers,
stakeholders, and employees, as highlighted in the fourth workshop session.
For example, the Colorado Department of Transportation has used performance
measures and asset management practices to communicate both internally
and externally, with performance measures playing a key role in clarifying
mission and purpose, aligning resources, generating feedback, focusing
on results, and recognizing improvements.
| What can HERS-ST do for you?
FHWA’s HERS-ST (Highway Economic Requirements System–State
Version) software is an analysis tool designed to aid transportation
agencies in planning and scheduling highway work, as well as determining
future highway system needs. The software simulates future highway
condition and performance levels and identifies deficiencies using
engineering principles. The program then applies economic criteria
to select the most cost-effective mix of improvements for system-wide
implementation. Fourteen States are now using HERS-ST. A new version
of the software will be released by the end of 2003, along with
a new User’s Guide and Technical Report.
Over the past year, FHWA has provided free onsite briefings and
workshops on HERS-ST for nine States. In 2004 that onsite assistance
will be expanded to include implementation support for States
seeking help in setting up and running HERS-ST. This support can
include help in putting together the program input data, adjusting
the software’s various parameters and controls, understanding
the output generated, and creating customized reports.
A HERS-ST User’s Group Meeting will be held at the Transportation
Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in January 2004 in Washington,
DC. The new version of the software and the updated documentation
will be available at the TRB Annual Meeting.
To learn more about HERS-ST, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/asstmgmt/hersindex.cfm.
The Web site hosts a HERS-ST community of practice, where visitors
can post questions and comments. The new software and User’s
Guide will also be posted on the Web site upon release. For additional
information, contact David Winter, HERS-ST Program Manager at
FHWA, 202-366-4631 (email: david.winter@fhwa.dot.gov). |
The fifth workshop session looked at local government experiences in
implementing TAM. The Atlanta conference featured case studies on the
implementation of a comprehensive benefit-cost based TAM system in Hillsborough
County, Florida, and the integration of pavement management systems
into the decisionmaking processes of three counties of different sizes
in Michigan (Alcona, Kent, and Oakland). The Seattle conference, meanwhile,
covered lessons learned by the Association of Oregon Counties and Multnomah
County regarding the use of TAM in Oregon. For example, the Oregon counties
learned that for management systems and other TAM tools to be successful,
balance must be maintained between the systems’ desired features
and ease of use. Another lesson learned is that users must control the
data collection for the systems.
State and local governments looking for guidance on how to take the
first steps in starting a TAM program found information on successful
tools and techniques at the sixth workshop session. At the Atlanta conference,
for example, the Florida Department of Transportation described its
Turnpike Enterprise Asset Management System, which is a comprehensive
Web-based system used to inventory and manage the maintenance and replacement
of $3.6 billion in capital assets.
A closing plenary session at each conference looked at what agencies
have learned in implementing the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s
Statement 34 (GASB 34), which calls for State and local transportation
agencies to include the costs of infrastructure assets in their financial
statements. An NCHRP study shows that the majority of States find using
the modified approach to infrastructure reporting, which involves the
cost to keep assets at desired condition levels, more helpful in making
finance and management decisions than using an approach that merely
depreciates the value of the assets.
Plans are already underway for the Sixth National Conference, to be
held in 2005. This year’s conference sponsors included the Transportation
Research Board (TRB), American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials, American Public Works Association, Midwest Regional University
Transportation Center (MRUTC), FHWA, National Association of County
Engineers, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Department of Transportation,
University of Illinois–Chicago, Midwest Transportation Consortium,
and the Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority.
The conference organizing committee will be issuing a series of short
papers summarizing the lessons learned from the conferences, which will
be featured in a session at the TRB Annual Meeting in January 2004 in
Washington, DC. For more information on the conferences, contact Ernie
Wittwer at MRUTC, 608-263-3175 (email: wittwer@engr.wisc.edu)
or Thomas Palmerlee at TRB, 202-334-2907 (email: tpalmerlee@nas.edu).
|  Economic
analysis is a critical component of a comprehensive project or
program methodology that considers all quantitative and qualitative
impacts of highway investments. Combined with planning, engineering,
environmental review, and other disciplines, economic analysis
can assist highway agencies in targeting limited transportation
resources to their best uses. For example, it can help reveal
if a planned highway project is worth undertaking, which design
for the project will yield the best return, and when and how to
implement the project.
A new Economic Analysis Primer (Publication No. FHWA-IF-03-032)
available from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides
an introduction to the role of economic analysis in highway decisionmaking.
The primer covers a range of economic issues, including such fundamental
concepts as inflation and discounting, and applications of economic
analysis methodology, such as life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA)
and benefit-cost analysis (BCA). LCCA enables an agency to make
sure the selection of a particular project design alternative
to accomplish a specified objective is not based solely on the
lowest initial costs, but also considers all the future costs
over the project’s usable life. BCA reveals whether the
benefits resulting from a project justify the costs of the resources
invested in it and, unlike LCCA, can be used to compare projects
that differ in terms of benefits and level of service to the public.
The primer also discusses economic impact analysis, which complements
BCA by identifying how the direct transportation benefits and
costs of a project would affect such variables as regional accessibility,
jobs, tourism, land values, and economic development. A separate
section on risk analysis looks at how it greatly improves the
usefulness of economic analysis to decisionmakers.
When used by highway agencies, all of these economic analysis
tools make clearer the real-world effects of highway investments
and allow agencies to target resources to their best uses.
To learn more about using economic analysis in transportation
decisionmaking or to obtain a printed copy of the primer, contact
Eric Gabler at FHWA, 202-366-4036 (fax: 202-366-9981; email: eric.gabler@fhwa.dot.
gov). The primer is available online at www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/asstmgmt/primer.htm.
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Articles in this issue:
National Center for Pavement Preservation Opens in Michigan
Moving Ahead with Context Sensitive Solutions in South Carolina
Going Beyond Theory at the Fifth National Conferences on Asset Management
LTPP Program Introduces New Distress Identification Manual
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