NCHRP 07-21: Asset Management Guidance for Traffic Control Devices, Barriers, and Lighting 2014 ATSIP Annual Meeting Presented by Nancy Lefler Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
Agenda Background Objective Approach Findings (so far) Next Steps Questions
Background Agencies faced with growing complexities in investment decision-making Transportation asset management is one strategy for helping to address some of these challenges.
Asset Management MAP-21 defines asset management as:..a strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, and improving physical assets, with a focus on engineering and economic analysis based upon quality information, to identify a structured sequence of maintenance, preservation, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement actions that will achieve and sustain a desired state of good repair over the lifecycle of the assets at minimum practicable cost. (23 U.S.C. 101(a)(2), MAP 21 1103).
Asset management based on the following five questions: What is the state of my assets? What is my required level of service? Which assets are critical to sustained performance? What are my best Operations and Maintenance and Capital Improvement investment strategies? What is my best long-term funding strategy?
Traffic and Safety Assets Established Asset Management practices for bridge and pavement Not same level of existing guidance for traffic and safety assets
OBJECTIVE
Objective Develop guidance on asset management for traffic and safety assets. Assets: Signs Traffic signals Pavement markings/markers Barrier systems Lighting Image Sources (top to bottom): VHB, PennDOT, FHWA
Audience State, county, and local agencies that have a stake in the management of safety related assets.
OVERVIEW OF APPROACH
Overview of Approach Phase I: Identify Best Practices and Develop Guidance Structure Phase II: Conduct Case Studies and Finalize Guidance
Phase 1 Task 1: Kickoff Meeting and Amplified Work Plan Task 2: Literature Review Task 3: Identification of Best Practices in Bridge and Pavement Task 4: Detailed Guidance Outline Task 5: Draft Chapter Task 6: Revise Work Plan Task 7: Phase I Interim Report Task 8: Phase I Interim Meeting
Phase 2 Task 9: Conduct Case Studies Task 10: Draft Guidance Report Task 11: Signal Tool Gap Analysis and Tool Development Task 12: Vet Guidance Task 13: Final Guidance Report and Tools
FINDINGS - LIT REVIEW AND BEST PRACTICES
Lit Review: Cross-cutting issues Aligning agency organization for TAM Strategic business approach, not another bureaucracy Allow for self-assessment and gap analysis Data integration Each asset requires specific measures of performance - data collection historically in silos Transportation systems are fundamentally spatial, allowing for GIS-based data collection and integration Data collection should consider practicality, accuracy validation, performance tracking, and prediction
Lit Review: Assets have varying levels of supporting literature Signs, Signals, and Pavement Markings A great deal of literature related to performance measurement Critical data consist across many agency types Many decision support/work planning tools exist Lighting and Barriers Critical data identified, but performance measurement is inconsistent or unclear Management tends to be reactive, not proactive Few tools exist for management of these assets
Lit Review: Consistent gaps identified for selected assets Few resources discuss practical life-cycle issues Cost of maintenance or replacement Anticipated lifespan of asset components Return on investment benefits Specifically safety benefits of providing asset Tort liability impacts Integration of new capabilities Prioritization methods and safety analyses for decision support Timely accomplishment reporting
Pavement & Bridge Best Practices Review: Key Practice Areas Automated data collection Used extensively for measuring pavement condition Very promising for low cost data collection some recent examples of this Element data collection Commonly used for bridge inspections, now mandatory for NHS bridges under MAP-21 Can be extended to ancillary structures (e.g., high mast lights) QA/QC for inventory and condition data collection Well established area, particularly for pavement Basic QA/QC techniques are directly applicable
Pavement & Bridge Best Practices Review: Key Practice Areas (continued) Performance measures Focus area for many pavement/bridge asset management efforts Basic approaches for developing measures, setting targets are transferable to traffic & safety assets Literature emphasizes importance of developing a small set of key measures for summarizing condition Use of management systems for modeling at a network and/or project level Successful examples for pavement and bridge Current models tend to be data hungry need to consider how to adapt approaches to work with less detailed data
Pavement & Bridge Best Practices Review: Key Practice Areas (continued) Work Recommendations and Tracking Important component of structures inspections, in particular Should be incorporated where visual inspections are used Risk Management Area of significant recent attention, particularly with MAP-21 requirement for risk-based asset management plans This area is evolving rapidly, with a number of efforts evaluating how to incorporate risk in resource allocation and day-to-day management practice
Challenges in Adapting Pavement & Bridge Management Approaches Data collection cost Cannot justify same data collection approaches for large inventories of short-lived assets Time requirements Current approaches often require significant historic data Assumption of independence between assets Assumption generally made that the decision of when to work on a given pavement section or bridge does not depend on consideration of other assets Cannot view traffic & safety asset classes in isolation
GUIDANCE OUTLINE
Overall Guidance Structure Introduction Cross-cutting Issues Signs Traffic Signals Pavement Markings Barrier Systems Lighting
Topics Covered in Each Chapter Planning and Scoping Inventory and Inspection Condition and Performance Assessment Decision Support Work Planning and Tracking Additional Considerations Specific to Assets
Case Study Locations Utah DOT Minnesota DOT Oregon DOT / Portland, Oregon Virginia DOT Washing State DOT / Seattle, Washington Columbia County, GA Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (Jackson)????
Next Steps Finalize case studies Develop and vet chapters Signal tool gap analysis and development Finalize guidance and tools - December 2015
Questions/Comments?