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Transportation Planning

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bcdas:
Nowadays, Transportation problem is one of the major problem in our daily life. As transportation planners and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) evaluate current system conditions and alternate future scenarios to make informed decisions on allocating resources, they must balance funding realities with mobility needs; public expectations; and community, legislative, and environmental considerations. Transportation asset management (TAM) provides a valuable tool to maximize system performance, improve customer satisfaction, and minimize life-cycle costs.

What Is Transportation Asset Management?

From increased vehicle miles traveled, growing population, and greater congestion to aging infrastructure and escalating operating costs, today's challenging circumstances put demands greater than ever on transportation networks. The goal of a TAM program is to minimize the life-cycle costs for managing and maintaining transportation assets, including roads, bridges, tunnels, rails, and roadside features. As defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Subcommittee on Asset Management, "TAM is a strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, upgrading, and expanding physical assets effectively through their life cycle. It focuses on business and engineering practices for resource allocation and utilization, with the objective of better decisionmaking based upon quality information and well defined objectives." Through the use of management systems, engineering and economic analysis, and other tools, MPOs and transportation agencies can more comprehensively view the big picture and evaluate collected data before making decisions as to how specific resources should be deployed. TAM principles and techniques should be applied throughout the planning process, from initial goal setting and long-range planning to development of a Transportation Improvement Program and Statewide Transportation Improvement Program and then through to operations, preservation, and maintenance.

What Is the Role of an MPO in Asset Management?

MPOs should ensure that the transportation network is managed to meet both current and future demands and that expenditures are optimal. TAM principles and techniques are valuable tools that can be applied by an MPO and result in more effective decisionmaking. The MPO role in a successful TAM program includes defining performance measures for assets through public involvement, serving as a repository for asset data, and promoting standard data collection and technology applications. MPOs can also educate the public and decisionmakers and work cooperatively with stakeholders across transportation modes.

we will discuss later how can we apply the plan

hasibur rahaman:
Nice post, Sir.

bcdas:
Transportation Asset Management Case Studies

a) Bridge Management Experiences:

The Federal Highway Administration Office of Asset Management is promoting a different way for transportation agencies to distribute their resources among alternative investment options. This new way of doing business, "Asset Management," is a strategic approach for getting the best return on dollars spent for transportation improvements.

Each State transportation agency will likely have different methods for implementing an Asset Management strategy. For example, some agencies will pursue a data integration strategy in order to ensure comparable data for the evaluation of investment alternatives across asset classes. Others will move to deploy economic analysis tools to generate fact-based information for decisionmakers. Still others will want to integrate new inventory assessment methods into their decisionmaking process.

Pontis® is a comprehensive bridge management system tool developed to assist in the challenging task of bridge management. Initially developed by FHWA, Pontis® now is an AASHTO BRIDGEWare® product. It stores bridge inventory and inspection data; formulates networkwide preservation and improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs of each bridge in a network; and makes recommendations for what projects to include in an agency's capital improvement program for deriving the maximum benefit from limited funds. The software is continuously upgraded and improved based on various users' input.

The FHWA in 2002 sponsored the development of a training course for Pontis® that was offered to State highway agencies beginning in July 2002 as part of the National Highway Institute training curriculum. Since then, the course has been modified to include changes in the software and has been presented in 17 States.

A majority of the States licensing Pontis® use this tool for collecting bridge inventory and inspection data only. On behalf of the Office of Asset Management, I am pleased to present this case study highlighting the business and decisionmaking processes for three State transportation agencies: California, Florida, and South Dakota. The Office encourages other States to move to the next level in using the software capabilities to the full extent. This study, along with the previous studies on data integration, economics in Asset Management, the Highway Economic Requirements System—State Version, and life-cycle cost analysis, will help agencies meet the challenges of managing their transportation programs and implementing Asset Management.

David R. Geiger, P.E.
Director, Office of Asset Management
Bridge Management Experiences of California, Florida, and South Dakota

rubel:
Knowledgeable. Thanks

s.islam:
Thanks for your thoughtful and meaningful post.

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