Description
Local roadway agencies are expected to provide a safe, comfortable traveling experience to the community. However, the resources available to meet expectations are limited, particularly for small and rural agencies.
Over the last decade, federal and state transportation agencies have adopted an approach for meeting similar challenges. This data-driven approach helps agencies get the most bang for their buck by picking projects and treatments that keep roads and streets in the best possible condition for as long as possible. The approach is called Transportation Asset Management (TAM).
While TAM is a great fit for federal and state transportation agencies, many local agencies are not ready to take on development of a TAM program. This training offers a simple overview of TAM’s components and illustrates how little changes and tools can have a big impact on an agency.
Ultimately, the training outlines how agencies can:
- Take initial steps towards implementing TAM,
- Use data collection and asset management software tools to increase efficiency and improve reliability,
- Manage risks, and
- Get more out of available funding.
The training also introduces processes and tools that support road and street management at other local agencies.
By the end of this training series, you’ll be able to:
- Describe the components of a TAM program.
- Identify a tool to advance the agency’s TAM program.
- Describe how to improve decision-making by considering risk.
- Identify minor road and street management changes to maximize the investment in roadways.
Who Should Attend
The training is appropriate for local agencies of any size, including small agencies with only a few paved roads to larger agencies with a more complex asset network.
Instructors
Katie Zimmerman has earned a national reputation for her work in the use of asset management programs for pavements, bridges, and ancillary assets to improve decisions in transportation agencies. Katie helps agencies determine their needs; better use asset data for planning, programming, budgeting, and investment decisions; and improve agency transparency and accountability. She works with agencies to address the data integration, business process, and capacity building support needed to develop asset management plans and to fully realize the benefits of asset management. She led the development of Transportation Asset Management Plans (TAMPs) for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Minnesota, Nevada, Illinois, and Ohio Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and serves as an instructor for three National Highway Institute transportation asset management courses.
Mark Woods is a Senior Engineer at Applied Pavement Technology, Inc. with two decades of pavement e
xperience. As a transportation agency executive, he has a proven track record of solving organizational management issues and participating in the national dialogue for the advancement of transportation operations and cost-effective pavement preservation. During his previous employment as the State Pavement Engineer for the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), he oversaw the statewide pavement network by monitoring and predicting conditions, setting performance targets, and overseeing the selection of pavement resurfacing projects and the determination of pavement preservation and pavement rehabilitation treatments. Previous to that, he served as the State Asphalt Materials Engineer where he led pavement testing projects and managed the statewide asphalt paving program, with a focus on asphalt materials specifications.
Dates and Registration
This course is scheduled for June 6, 13, and 15, 2023. Register here.
This training is divided into a series of online modules that can be taken based on the participant’s interest and readiness to put TAM concepts into practice. This course is offered free of charge, but participants must still register to reserve a seat.
For questions, please email jbirkey@appliedpavement.com.
Module 1: Introduction to TAM
The first module describes the principles and components of a TAM program. The module includes a discussion of the challenges local transportation agencies face and the solutions a TAM program provides, per component. Examples of local transportation agencies are included to highlight the real benefits derived from implementing TAM.
The material also introduces tools to communicate funding needs and the strategies an agency is using to care for its road and street network. Nevada DOT’s Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) is one example, which explains how TAM strategies are developed and how they are being applied. Other examples from local agencies illustrate how a TAMP can benefit a smaller agency.
Module 2: Tools That Advance Asset Management
The second module discusses data collection and asset management software tools that increase efficiency and improve reliability. Using a simple road network as an example, the lesson demonstrates how to get the most bang for the buck from available funding. The material then introduces the types of data agencies have to drive decision-making and how it is used. The training includes simple and sophisticated data collection methods and analysis tools to emphasize that a TAM approach is customizable to the agency’s current business practices and resources.
Module 3: Maximizing Your Investment
The third module explores additional steps that an agency can take to get the most out of its TAM program. This lesson introduces the concept of risk and how to use risk to prioritize where the agency spends its money. It also explains how agencies can apply the principles discussed in the training to bridges, drainage systems, and other road and street assets. The training closes with a discussion about how competing priorities (such as safety, social equity, and mobility) can be considered in a TAM program.