TRB Research Ideas – Data Quality/Standardization
• Data quality and confidence
• standardize terminology between different systems so singles source can inform GIS/500 reports/DELPHI/FMIS etc. so reports all use the same words or numbers the same way
• Updated asset type definitions and extraction methodologies.
• Performance Metrics for Assets other than pavement and bridge, i.e.. signals, signs, barriers, culverts
• Asset ratings biases, potential to rate lower to obtain funding

TRB Research Ideas – Data Governance
• Our largest challenge is data governance, feature collection and maintaining asset/inventory data
• Data governance is still looming large from an implementation perspective
• Data history, implementation and its security (both cyber and other forms of security)

1. Evaluate the impacts of incomplete/missing annual pavement data collection to various aspects of agency asset and performance management, including technical considerations, such as network-level condition summary and performance forecast, maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction decision-making, and condition deterioration and treatment improvement modeling.

2. Consider the effect of incomplete/missing data on the organization and processes, such as federal performance reporting and transportation asset management planning requirements, as well as impacts to other internal and external stakeholders and decision-making processes.

3. Analyze and derive recommendations on mitigation strategies that DOT could implement to minimize the impact of incomplete condition data.

Better define the needs to education, training and workforce development related to transportation asset management and transportation performance management. Develop resources as needed for the following sub-areas:
Education—Writing curriculum for undergraduate and graduate courses
Training—For DOT and MPO staff in-depth career training, NHI, etc.
Workforce Development—e.g., TC3

1. Evaluate current federal PM3 measures

2. Identify and address in detail specific challenges for the measure

3. Provide recommendations to improve existing measures and/or identify metrics that better reflect conditions.

1. Evaluate current federal PM2 measures, both pavement condition measures (Ride Quality, Rutting, Faulting, and Cracking) and bridge measures, for performance thresholds, and overall performance measure with respect to: Consistency, Usefulness, and Alignment.

2. Identify and address in detail specific challenges for each condition measure (Ride Quality, Rutting, Faulting, and Cracking) for consistency, including thresholds. For example, determine if wheel path cracking considerations could be revised to provide more consistent results across pavement types (e.g. composite, concrete) and pavement widths (e.g. <12 ft.) 3. Provide recommendations to improve existing measures and/or identify metrics that better reflect pavement failure mechanisms and enhance decision-making taking into account not only the assessment of current and future condition but also their implications in economic analyses of long-term maintenance and rehabilitation. Evaluate pavement leading indicators as an alternative to the current version of the PM2.

The goal of this research is two-fold: to provide guidance on how transportation agencies can best use existing management systems and tools to integrate network and project-level analysis and provide a framework for an improve asset modeling approach that better integrates the project and network levels incorporating multiple asset types and consideration of multiple objectives. The research is intended to be of immediate value in helping transportation agencies better comply with Federal requirements to set performance targets and develop asset management plans. Also, it will help agencies to extend asset management approaches to additional systems and assets, besides the NHS pavement and bridge assets addressed through the Federal regulations. In addition, the research will help define improved approaches for asset management models for public agencies, researchers and system developers to use in developing the next generation of asset management systems.

Accomplishing these objectives will require:

• Conducting a literature review of existing asset modeling approaches implemented for use in transportation agencies, including network and project-level approaches.
• Performing a targeted set of interviews of selected transportation agencies to supplement the literature review.
• Establishing the current state of the practice in TAM, particularly with respect to how network and project-level analyses are integrated, how results for different asset classes are combined, and how consideration of multiple objectives is incorporated.
• Assessing the gaps in existing TAM modeling approaches and how they are implemented by state DOTs and other transportation agencies.
• Developing guidance for performing network and project-level asset investment analyses. The guidance should detail recommended approaches for addressing the gaps identified in the gap analysis, and should help agencies better meet Federal requirements.
• Recommending a framework for the next generation of asset management investment models that better integrates project and network-level analyses, integrates multiple asset classes, and includes consideration of multiple objectives.
• Preparing a case study illustrating application of the framework using actual data from a participating agency to the extent feasible.
• Organizing and facilitating a one-day workshop to review the initial products of the research and incorporate perspectives of the broader transportation community in the research.
• Writing a research report documenting the guidance, framework, and other products of the research.

Urgency and Potential Benefits

The proposed research will help transportation agencies better respond to recently-adopted Federal requirements related to asset management. Over time the research will help transportation agencies develop more accurate performance targets and TAM plans, as well as help agencies better incorporate best practices in TAM in their business processes. Also, the research will help define transportation agency’s needs for improved future asset management systems and models, lowering the cost and shortening the development time required for the industry to develop the next generation of asset management systems.

Implementation Planning

The target audience for the research findings and products of this work will be State DOTs, MPOs, transit agencies, and other transportation agencies, as well as researchers and engineering staff involved in transportation. The key decision-makers who can approve, influence, or champion implementation of these research products are the senior staff and CEOs of the transportation agencies. The AASHTO committees that will be involved in the adoption and implementation of the results will be the AASHTO Committee on Planning and its subcommittees on Asset Management.

Literature Search Summary

The proposed research is intended to build upon previous research related to developing asset management analytical approaches, including:

• NCHRP Report 545, Analytical Tools for Asset Management;
• NCHRP Report 590, Multi-Objective Optimization for Bridge Management Systems;
• NCHRP Report 666, Target Setting Methods and Data Management to Support Performance-Based Resource Allocation by Transportation Agencies;
• NCHRP Report 806, Guide to Cross-Asset Resource Allocation and the Impact on Transportation System Performance;
• NCHRP Synthesis 494, Life-Cycle Cost Analysis for Management of Highway Assets; and
• NCHRP Project 08-103 to update and extend the cross-asset resource allocation guidance detailed in NCHRP Report 806.

This research should:
• Identify pertinent data sources, data types, as well as relevant collection and analysis methods employed by transit agencies.
• Provide a synthesis of examples or State of the Practice applications for MPOs/DOTs.
• Outline communication strategies to the relevant decision-makers.

The proposed research must consist of:
• An extensive literature search or survey of the current body of work.
• A survey of agencies’ practices and the cultural effects of those practices on both agency members and the general public.
• A series of webinars and/or workshops aimed at facilitating increasing knowledge regarding risk analysis practices in transportation
• A final report as well as an executive summary summarizing the findings of the various practices at different agencies, as well as the content of the webinars and/or workshops.

The objectives of this research are to examine methods for evaluation of system assets. Thorough research should:
• Identify international practices and determine how they can be applied in the US
• Better marry engineering and accounting in financial planning
• Demonstrate benefits through a case study (may be fictional)

The proposed research will have the following deliverables:
• A literature review, and well as a review of current practices.
• A tool to assess the functionality of the current practices of American agencies, as well as compare those practices to their overseas counterparts.

The focus of this research is to support a scan tour or peer exchange addressing organizational alignment for TAM. This falls into three distinct but equally necessary categories: a review of previous knowledge, a inter-agency gathering to assess differing organizational models and policies to TAM, and finally a report or summary of the findings.

As outlined above, the first component of the research is a literature and practice review, which should include:
• A Catalogue of Candidate Practices
• Template Organizational Charts that support comparison of alternative models

The inter-agency scan workshop must focus on bringing together agencies that can speak to distinct organizational models. The first step is to identify candidate agencies to participate in scan. Next, draft amplifying questions to guide discussion toward identification of what led to successful practices. Finally,
conduct the workshop and document results

The final summary report must document the findings of the workshop, such as successful practices in aligning organizations to support transportation asset management and linking operational activities to organizational structures.

Research is needed addressing the question: “What are the organizational/cultural factors that were in place before and/or during implementation that created a successful TAM program?” Develop a guidebook to convey lessons learned. Key point: must use an organizational development or similar consulting firm. Not the usual suspects!

The proposed research be composed of the following components:
• Conduct a literature/practice review of the relevant information
• Identify organizational practices and determine how they can be generalized to support guidance
• Develop guidance for agencies
• Demonstrate/evaluate guidance through at least one case study
• Produce a final report including an accessible executive summary

This research will focus on understanding TAM’s relationship to other transportation goals such as economic development, safety, environmental sustainability, mobility, and livability. Two products are sought through this research: 1) Framework for understanding the relationships between TAM and broad transportation goals. 2) Guidance on how to ensure TAM connectivity to broad transportation goals throughout the transportation decision-making cycle.

As part of this research, the contractor will research domestic and international frameworks for TAM’s relationships with broad transportation goals. These frameworks should be described in sufficient detail with visuals aids to communicate these relationships. The contractor will work in cooperation with the project panel in identifying the best framework for communicating the relationship between TAM and broad transportation goals. Based on this interaction with and feedback from the panel, the contractor will then develop guidance on how these relationships can more explicitly be used during the planning, programming, project delivery, and maintenance/operations process to maximize TAM benefits. Other issues that should be considered include the following: (1) What are the performance measures for understanding the relationships; and (2) are there quantitative ways to demonstrate how these relationships can be influenced?

This research will focus on understanding successful organizational models for TAM program so that guidance can be provided on how to improve organizational capacities. Two products are sought through this research: 1) Understanding of current organizational models for TAM programs 2) Catalog of possible organizational models for TAM programs that transportation agencies could consider for improving TAM capabilities.

As part of this research, the contractor will research domestic and international models for TAM program organizations and develop a set of models that represent the various approaches. These models should be described in sufficient detail with diagrams for DOTs to use to improve TAM program organizations. The contractor will work in cooperation with the project panel in identifying the best organizational models for TAM programs that an agency should consider when seeking improvements for their TAM programs. Based on this interaction with and feedback from the panel, the contractor will define at a minimum four distinct organizational models for TAM programs. These models need to be described in sufficient detail with diagrams and key role descriptions. Other issues that should be considered include the following: (1) How to balance accountability versus collaboration; and (2) how would you measure the effectiveness of one model versus another?

The objective for this research is to examine the costs and value associated with maintaining assets, and then to develop a usable model for forecasting the cost and value. Such a model must include, but not be limited to:
• A framework for quantitatively assessing the value of an asset that has been properly maintained.
• A tool for calculating the long-term costs of maintaining an asset, in line with industry standards for safety and reliability.
In addition to developing the model, the research should also establish guidance targeted at helping practitioners conduct forecasting analyses and communicate the results.

The proposed research will:
• Conduct a literature review, and well as a review of current practices.
• Develop a forecasting model for the costs and value of maintaining assets, as described in the objectives.
• Perform a series of pilots illustrating the effectiveness and usefulness of the model.
• Prepare a final report incorporating the guidance document and detailing the research performed as part of the project

The proposed research will:
• Evaluate various technologies for tagging and tracking assets and capturing asset history. Each proposed tracking technology should be evaluated for various factors, such as cost, ease of use, efficacy, and time required to implement.
• Create a standard for transportation asset tagging and tracking that can be used intermodally and across agencies.
• Develop a business case to demonstrate the lifecycle savings that can be achieved by transportation entities. This case study may be fictional if a suitable real-world example cannot be identified due to the new nature of the technologies.

The research plan should:
• Evaluate current technologies for the various criteria that denote a usable solution for assent inventory and tracking
• Propose fit-for-use of technology type by asset class. A single technology may not be suitable for all classes of assets, so categorizing
• Establish policies and protocols for capturing asset data
• Develop lifecycle costing models for use of asset tracking/ tagging technologies

The proposed research will:

• Identify and classify data items required to inform the maintenance and rehabilitation of different asset types.
• Determine the degree of relevance/criticality of select data items towards treatment decisions.
• Identify the level of detail required for asset management decisions at both the project and network level.
• Construct sensitivity analyses between data elements and infrastructure performance to explore the relationships that exist between them. This would also justify which data items are worth investing more resources into in order to mitigate uncertainties in developing long-term infrastructure preservation plans.

The research plan should:

1. Conduct a literature review of relevant studies and practice within the scope of the research problem.
2. Conduct a survey of current practices by planning agencies and state departments of transportation (DOTs) on current data availabilities and their use for decision-making
3. Perform an in-depth case studies involving the management and application of critical data items to support infrastructure management decisions, particularly around key assets such as pavements.
4. Develop a consolidated list of data elements and the level of detail required to support treatment decisions.
5. Propose a method to identify the data that are critical to predict the infrastructure performance. The method should include but not limited to the plan of data collection, data mining, data analysis, model development and validation process.
   

   References:

   • Flintsch, G. W., & Bryant, J. W. (2006). Asset management data collection for supporting decision processes. US Department of Transport, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC.

The proposed research will first develop a methodology that will allow dynamic changes to treatment plans. Then, the research must test the methodology, as well as identify and quantify cost savings benefits of using the methodology or tool.

The research plan should:
• Contain a literature review- focused on treatment timing, methodology, and successful dynamic processes
• Select the promising methods to test using the proposed methodology
• Quantify benefits and cost benefits of the different methods

Identify linkage between ISO standards and MAP-21 TAMP requirements. Identify gaps or inconsistencies and propose solutions. The proposed solutions may include guidelines for agencies, research needs, modification to the standards, or agency specific standards that address agency specific needs.

The project will include at least the following tasks:
• Literature search of directly relevant standards
• Identification of gaps and issues between ISO standards and MAP-21 requirements
• Propose solutions, develop guidance, recommend modifications to standards
• Identify and report on several case studies

The focus of this research can be divided into three main categories. Firstly, prior information must be collected and organized. This is accomplished through:
• Case studies and examples of best practice
• Creating a synthesis of state’s best practices
The next step is to build tools that allow for better asset management marketing, such as:
• Communication, sales, and/or a media science application to help craft a way to tell the story
• Creating a marketing plan that can be used to educate and train
• Training to Speak a language that all can understand
• Communicating the secondary benefits of TAM
Finally, follow-ups of the methods must be conducted to measure efficacy. This could include examining:
• How effective are the marketing and communication? Is the message being received?
• How has public perception changed?

A developed and complete research plan must focus on the three main categories of research. There must be a review of international and domestic best practice. This should include relevant existing guides and past work, such as NCHRP 742: Communicating the Value of Preservation. Focus groups and piloting of stakeholders should be formed to do media/communicate/develop sales techniques to frame topics to best to change minds
After these focus groups, a tool kit should be developed that addresses a multi-level audience. Finally, follow-ups should assess the effectiveness of the marketing plans or communication skills, and monitor techniques for continuous improvement.

The objectives of this research are to quantify the expected abilities of autonomous vehicles, to establish an expected timeline of integration within the greater transportation networks, and to examine what infrastructure changes are most beneficial for autonomous vehicles.
The capacities of autonomous vehicles are not yet quantified. The research should:
• Determine what types of roads are suitable for such vehicles.
• Examine safety for both drivers/passengers, and other users of the roadways, such as pedestrians and cyclists.
• Explore limitations, such as fog or extreme conditions.
• Establish a timeline for adoption. Since the technology is expected to change rapidly, current capabilities will change.
The infrastructure requirements for autonomous vehicles are greatly dependent on the capabilities of the vehicles. Nevertheless, certain changes can be expected to improve the safety and usefulness of the vehicles, such as:
• Repainting roadways to help the vehicles operate.
• Installing RFID that could communicate with the vehicles directly.
• Determining what challenges would face a mixed-stream road of autonomous vehicles and vehicles under driver operation.

Research into this area requires surveying all the major players involved in the development and implementation of autonomous vehicles.
• Survey of industry on current and future plans and timeline to implementation, as well as quantifying the current and future capacities of their vehicles.
• Survey DOTs to determine capabilities and gaps in the existing infrastructure.
• Survey of industry on what changes to the road networks would have the greatest impact of ease of implementation and safety of autonomous vehicles.
After the surveys are completed, a conference with the players would validate the findings of the surveys, and generate a report as well as an executive summary.

The primary focus of this research is, at a most basic level, to help agencies strengthen their work force. This should be accomplished by researching areas where:
• Agencies lack a comprehensive list of necessary skills for a given position
• Agencies lack a comprehensive list of which positions are most critical to keep fully staffed. In an era of shrinking budgets, effectively prioritizing hiring decisions is crucial.
• There is a gap in knowledge regarding existing certifications.

The research plan for this project must include, but need not be limited to:
• A complete review of existing certifications.
• Completing competencies
• Developing position descriptions for use when advertising vacant positions
All of this data should be compiled in a detailed report, as well as a succinct executive summary that is accessible to all decision-makers.

The research should focus of two primary areas of focus. The researchers must develop a guidebook for data integration across jurisdictional lines, as well as review the existing standards for civil data. This could include projects such as Civil Integrated Management (CIM) and the researchers must document the positive and negative ramifications of the various standards.

The research plan must consist of:
• A thorough and comprehensive review of existing standards. Due to the nature of integrating data across various platforms, all the types of data management must be well accounted for to ensure proper integration.
• Developing a guidebook. This should be the primary tool that an end user would utilize to determine how to best integrate their data across jurisdictions.
• Planning a pilot program. Ideally, a pilot program would be implemented and then analyzed for success, but at a minimum, a comprehensive plan for an initial test of the data integration framework must be completed.

MAP-21 and the Fast Act jump started many agencies in attaining an inventory of infrastructure assets and transportation data. Now that the need for such extraction projects is federally recognized, further research is needed to understand what the latest technologies for asset analysis can offer an agency as well as how frequently that information needs to be generated. What level of extraction detail and frequency interval is needed to support pavement management systems (PMS) at both the state and local levels? How can the condition assessment be applied to the performance measures of both pavement and non-pavement assets? What types of automated asset inventory techniques are available to agencies for solicitation or collaboration? Finally, how are successful agencies tracking asset data annually or with each project and how can those best practices be share with the larger community?

• Identify tools (online forum, listserve, or others) to facilitate the community of practice.
• Create practitioner consortium database
• Webinars to build awareness
• Facilitation/moderation to foster the community of practice
• Report on lessons learned and successful practices identified through the community of practice
• Examine the consistency of the underlying data that goes into bridge/pavement data collection

This project proposes the establishment of a community of practice for asset management data collection rather than the creation of a traditional research report.
• The mission of the community of practice will be to articulate strategic, operational and tactical business needs relevant to emerging technologies for asset data collection and to recommend improvements to business processes, data, and information systems to meet the highest priority needs.
• The community of practice will seek to connect the experts and build the network to move the state of practice forward more effectively and efficiently
• The project will seek to foster the community of practice so that it is sustainable beyond the conclusion of this research

This research project would aim to develop a Primer or Guidance document to help agencies tasked with managing infrastructure (including pavement and bridges) to assess their current data, data collection processes, and data needs to best position them to be able to take advantage of burgeoning artificial intelligence techniques to develop increasingly accurate predictive models regarding their infrastructure.

The quality of data is extremely important – “garbage in, garbage out” - and quality of data in terms of accuracy and precision is already getting much needed attention. However, while many agencies are actively improving collection of accurate and more data, collection the right quality data for accurate and precise prediction requires an additional level of scrutiny.

Collection of more accurate and precise data will undoubtably increase the accuracy of predictions, accurate predictive modeling also relies on understanding the underlying variables that affect the predictions. For example, variables that might affect the structural deterioration (for instance in the next time period) of an infrastructure element such as a pavement management section, might include:
- Structure information such as layer thicknesses and materials
- Environmental conditions such as temperature means and variation, rainfall etc.
- Load information such as traffic and truck traffic
- Current condition such as current cracking, rutting and roughness information
- Current condition such as layer properties and structural strength
- Information on previous maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction actions

Similar attributes would be considered significant variables for deterioration prediction in bridges, and this would also apply to many other non-bridge, non-pavement types of infrastructure assets.

Statistical analysis of this type of data for predictive analysis purposes is not new and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) techniques have been used in this area for decades. However, with the advent of automated data collection techniques and with the quantity of available data growing at a considerable rate (so called ‘Big Data’), various types of AI such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) and deep learning techniques, are beginning to supersede some of these traditional statistical techniques. The ‘training’ portions of these techniques will require accurate and repeatable data as well as information on significant variables.

In addition, one the most valuable aspects of AI is the ability these types of techniques to continuously learn and improve. In this respect, it is again very important for agencies to understand how this learning could be accomplished, not just initially but continuously over time, using processes that involve continuous updates (e.g. through crowd sourcing). Agencies would therefore benefit considerably by having guidance available to help them set up their data capture and governance techniques to best benefit from AI modeling, training and continuous learning in the future.

Ideally, an agency would collect data that has the necessary attributes to facilitate an AI analysis and have processes in place that would allow continuous learning such that predictive modeling for the agency would continue to be trained and improved as the AI continued to learn. The current reality is such that condition data that is being collected may not be easily utilized in an AI analysis. The consequence is that the complicated decision-making process that highway agency executives depend upon may not be producing the level of accuracy in condition and funding projections that is required to make funding decisions in their investment strategies.

The Real Option method allows infrastructure owners to evaluate the advantage of options that an infrastructure manager has over time. As time passes, a manager will have the ability to intervene as as an object may deteriorate at a faster rate than expected. Likewise, a manager may postpone a planned intervention if the condition is better than expected. In addition to the option to defer, a manager may have the option to expand or contract the infrastructure or the infrastructure network, as well as to shut it down temporarily, abandon it, grow it or switch it (de Neufville and Scholtes, 2011).

The options provide an owner with the flexibility adapting the infrastructure to uncertain future needs. Owners, thus, neither under-, nor overinvest and consequently minimize the risks of their decisions. The external factors affecting risk include weather events, condition development, system demands, funding and other critical variables. The methodology proposes a way to systematically analyse and define these uncertainties and make predictions taking the defined uncertainty fully into consideration.

Real option valuation is known using binomial lattices (a form of decision trees) and/or Brownian motion random walk algorithms. Infrastructure life-time net benefits can also be calculated by simulating the uncertainty using continuous Monte Carlo simulations. Using different stakeholders’ costs of different design alternatives and management strategies, the costs can be calculated over a large sample of potential futures. The methodology is able to address multiple levels of risk and weight them as necessary and thus make multi-objective, cross-asset investment decisions under uncertainty to best support the national goals identified in 23 USC 150(b).

The ultimate objective is to provide the decision-maker with tools that add value to the decision-making process and improve the robustness of the infrastructure network as a whole. In that sense, novel approaches for the evaluation of risk will be sought to capture the stochastic nature of interdependent infrastructure. A graph theory approach to evaluate criticality of network node failure as shown by Buldyrev and colleagues (2010) may prove interesting for the evaluation of consequences, and thus the real option value for the infrastructure, simulated by network programming methods.

The application and evaluation of a large sample of data and data simulations is computationally challenging. Furthermore, decision-making tools are urged to be simple and understandable. As big data may improve predictability and performance of models, strong emphasis must be laid on the usability of such models. In this project, it is suggested that particular focus will be on addressing these challenges with the outlook of combining big data and the model’s user interface design.

References:
Buldyrev, S. V., R. Parshani, G. Paul, H. E. Stanley and S. Havlin (2010) Catastrophic cascade of failures in interdependent networks, Nature, 464, 1025-1028.
de Neufville, R. and S. Scholtes (2011) Flexibility in Engineering Design, Engineering Systems, MIT Press, ISBN 978-0262297332.
Savage, S. (2012) The Flaw of Averages: Why we underestimate Risk in the face of Uncertainty, Wiley, ISBN 978-1118073759.
Prof. Dr. Rade Hajdin, July 2019

The ultimate objective is to provide the decision-maker with tools that add value to the decision-making process and improve the robustness of the infrastructure network as a whole. In that sense, novel approaches for the evaluation of risk will be sought to capture the stochastic nature of interdependent infrastructure. A graph theory approach to evaluate criticality of network node failure as shown by Buldyrev and colleagues (2010) may prove interesting for the evaluation of consequences, and thus the real option value for the infrastructure, simulated by network programming methods.

Synthesize best practices for workforce development and training in order to enhance the capabilities of a TAM team/staff or attract internal staff to become involved in TAM program/implementation.

Document and provide examples of condition assessments for all types of assets.

Create case studies addressing noteworthy applications of big data analytics to TAM.

This is a note test.

Research effective corridor planning strategies that promote sustainable capital asset improvements that impact asset class performance and other performance areas.

Develop a framework, recommended actions, and synthesis of noteworthy practices for agencies to use in incorporating change management strategies in TAM practice.

• Asset conditions are typically determined currently in separate silos - leading to asset treatments that are applied on varied schedules by asset (pavement, bridges, culverts) even over the same corridor.
• Significant resources may be misallocated on treatments applied at the wrong time due to lack of coordinated corridor planning.
• Corridor planning can organize the asset treatments — while also looking at environmental issues, congestion, and safety
• There may be other issues such as operation needs in a corridor as well.
o “Project delivery” can be achieved more efficiently because projects are organized into a corridor delivery strategy. Projects can be peeled off as funding is available
o Public can be engaged all at once instead of multiple times for multiple projects.
o Minimize contractor costs

Develop guidance on an asset management corridor planning process to prioritize and schedule project delivery for cost effectiveness while also considering mobility/accessibility issues, drainage, and more.

• Conduct a review and evaluation of existing agency corridor planning processes with respect to transportation asset management
• Synthesize noteworthy practices in asset management corridor planning
o Identify potential case studies targeting specific corridor planning scenarios
o Develop a framework for corridor plans that can be applied for better asset management and resource allocation
• Conduct targeted stakeholder outreach (interviews or similar) to validate and further develop noteworthy practices and framework (consider whether research statement addresses inclusion of international practice)
• Develop asset management corridor planning guide outline and complete how-to guide
o Identify steps for agency necessary to address, for example: potential project areas; asset inventory/proposed treatment schedule; traffic volume/transit analysis; land use inventory and future land use; drainage issues; financial resources, schedule and coordination).
o Identify candidate case studies
• Drawing upon review and outreach efforts, develop 3-6 case studies for inclusion in the guide
• Plan and deliver three regional workshops to present guide and framework and advance corridor planning at DOTs/MPOs

• Asset management corridor planning how-to guide including case studies
• Workshops to introduce guide and advance corridor planning

Agencies have made progress in implementing TAM within their agencies. The impact of TAM will be much greater if stakeholders are engaged as a part of the decision-making and TAM approaches were collaborative for given geographic areas.

Develop communication tools and methodologies for engaging stakeholders in TAM program activities such as strategies development, performance management implementation, and budget development.

• Collect existing documentation of best practices related to TAM stakeholder engagement and communication
• Consider conducting a synthesis of practices used by agencies to communicate successfully the importance and value of TAM
• Package communication and other engagement resources from existing examples in a way that makes it possible for other agencies to use it for their stakeholder communication and engagement needs
• Assess the stages of maturity in communication and engagement and determine what actions and resources are most relevant to advance practice given current practices
• Develop guidance on when stakeholder engagement is important and what processes and products are most useful at each engagement opportunity
• Develop new resources that support the guidance

• Communication portfolio that allows asset owners/managers to draw on best practices from others during TAM program activities to engage stakeholders
• Stakeholder communication and engagement guidance

• Recent NCHRP research products have documented data governance techniques and provided tools for agencies to assess their current data governance practices and identify strategies for improvement.
• NCHRP 08-115 (publication pending) included data governance as one of several foundational activities for improving use of data and information for transportation asset management. An NCHRP 20-44 proposal is in process to conduct pilot implementations of the guidance and assessment tool developed through that project, and produce supplemental guidance materials based on the pilots.
• Many DOTs are implementing data governance – through establishing governance bodies, defining data stewardship roles and putting standard processes in place. The AASHTO Data Management and Analytics Committee has established a Chief Data Officer (CDO) peer group to enable ongoing sharing of data governance practices.
• This project would build on the established base of prior and ongoing work on data governance. It would focus specifically on providing specific examples or models that can be applied to help advance asset management practice through data governance.

Provide support to implement the data governance practices and processes recommended through NCHRP 08-115, Guidebook for Data and Information Systems for Transportation Asset Management.

• Conduct outreach to identify implemented examples of transferable TAM-related data governance practices. These might include:
o role/responsibility descriptions for asset data stewards and asset management system owners,
o charters for TAM advisory bodies or governance groups,
o asset data-related policies or guidance documents,
o flowcharts or process descriptions for initiating new asset data collection efforts,
o work products related to establishment of data glossaries, catalogs or standards,
o asset data quality management plans or process descriptions, and
o asset data MOUs or agreements.
• Conduct a series of follow-up interviews to document the processes by which each of the identified examples were developed, and to seek permission for sharing the examples.
• Make the documented examples accessible (via the AASHTO TAM Portal and/or the AASHTO Data Management and Analytics Committee website)
• Conduct a webinar highlighting selected examples – featuring the DOT staff who were involved in their implementation.
• Recommend an ongoing mechanism for periodically refreshing the body of examples collected through this effort.

• Library of documented examples
• Webinar slides and recording
• Recommended approach for ongoing updates to the body of examples

• It’s difficult to communicate the value of an asset management approach to the public.
• In many cases agency leaders and stakeholders, including the public, may not see discernable benefits from TAM, reducing support for a preservation-focused investment strategy and/or improved systems and data required to support a TAM approach.
• Research has been performed in the past regarding how to calculate the return on investment (ROI) of TAM systems and how to communicate the value of preservation. Also, private sector entities use a separate set of approaches for evaluating the benefits of providing transportation as a concession.
• Additional research is needed to quantify the benefits of TAM generally, and incorporate consideration of other factors such as sustainability, equity, resilience, etc.

Develop a framework and guidance for calculating and communicating the overall benefit of improved asset management approaches to transportation agencies, transportation system users, and society of improved asset management approaches. The framework should address monetized benefits, as well as issues such as equity, sustainability, and resilience. Illustrate use of the framework and examples through a set of pilot studies of U.S. agencies.

• Literature and practice review
• Develop TAM benefit framework
• Prepare guidance for implementing the framework
• Perform a set of pilots to test and refine the guidance, as well as to help illustrate the benefits of TAM
• Provide updated examples of effective communication of TAM benefits
• Prepare a guidebook detailing the framework, guidance, pilots and communication examples.

• Guidebook for calculating and communicating the benefits of a TAM approach
• Spreadsheet or web-based tool transportation agencies can use to perform their own calculations following the guidance.

Managing risk is a critical component of asset management. On a day-to-day basis transportation asset managers spend much of their time responding to or mitigating a large number of risks, which may range from external events that damage transportation infrastructure to unplanned changes to budget or workloads resulting from unexpected events. Various recent and on-going research efforts aim to improve approaches for risk management for transportation agencies. However, most of these efforts treat risk management as a high-level activity. Further research is needed to develop quantitative, repeatable approaches at the appropriate staff level, to assessing and identifying the highest priority risks transportation agencies face in managing physical assets. This project aims to develop such approaches to assess risks (e.g., financial, strategic, operational, political, environmental, technological, social justice risks) and incorporate them into life cycle analysis and planning efforts.

The objectives of this research are to:
• Generate risk identification techniques to determine high risk threats at project and network levels,
• Develop quantitative, repeatable approaches for assessing likelihood and consequences for these threats,
• Develop visual, interactive characterization methods (e.g., dashboards) to reflect an agency’s level of risk and the effectiveness of proposed mitigation actions,
• Allow risk and resilience to be on par with traditional performance measures.

High risk threats to be studied include, but are not limited to, extreme events (e.g., earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, avalanches, tornadoes), asset failure (structural and operational), financial, strategic, political, environmental (e.g., sea level rise, flooding), technological, and social justice risks.

The final deliverables could include guidebook with a spreadsheet or a framework for assessing high risk threats and incorporating the results into TAM efforts. The guidebook should feature a comprehensive review of existing literature and current practice. It should present a standard definition of resilience as well as step-by-step instructions to develop models, methods, and metrics for estimating resilience of highway systems to high risk threats. Pilot studies should be conducted with select agencies to test the guidance and calculation procedures.

The target audience for the research results is asset management and risk-management champions at state and local government transportation agencies. The results of this project will potentially empower these individuals in convincing other decision makers in these agencies to take actions that not only align with traditional performance management objectives but also that result in lower risk and higher resilience for the whole transportation system. The results of this project can also be effective in communicating the rationale behind risk-based decisions to the general public. Due to legal implications of identifying and documenting risks, the research and final product should include advice on how to protect the agency from litigation if they cannot implement a recommended action.

Risk assessment is at the core of implementing a risk-based asset management approach. Therefore, FHWA and AASHTO view this as a subject of great importance. In addition, risk management cuts across all areas of a state DOT’s business and just about any AASHTO Committee and any state DOT and local agency could realize benefits from these research results.

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) transportation bill established federal regulations that require each State Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop a Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP), and implement Performance Management. These regulations require all DOTs to utilize nationally defined performance measures for pavements on the National Highway System (NHS). These nationally defined performance measures (referred as PM2 hereafter) are aimed at providing nationally consistent metrics for DOTs to measure condition, establish targets, assess progress toward targets, and report on condition and performance. Furthermore, Federal measures provide the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) the ability to better communicate a national performance story and to more reliably assess the impacts of Federal funding investments.
State DOTs are expected to use the information and data generated from these Federal measures to inform their transportation planning and programming decisions. However, State DOTs are finding discrepancies between pavement conditions from PM2 measures as compared to their internal, state-developed measures. This discrepancy hampers the adoption of the PM2 pavement measures as the primary input into condition summary reporting and pavement investment prioritization and decision-making. In other words, State DOTs do not have confidence in the Federal measures, primarily because these measures cannot be used to inform decision-making processes such as investment decisions. Furthermore, the resulting differences between state metric-determined and federal metric-determined network conditions creates confusion among the public, senior executive staff, and legislative bodies, along with non-DOT owners of NHS assets.
As mentioned before, FHWA needs to collect consistent Federal measures across all State DOTs to assess the impact of Federal funding investment at the national level. However, State DOTs have been collecting pavement performance data for decades and used this data to inform their pavement management systems and processes to address specific needs. Typically, the data collection processes cover state-owned pavements and not only NHS pavements, which brings another layer of inconsistency. For this reason, there is a need for more flexible metrics that can be aligned to performance measures currently used by State DOTs and support decision-making processes such as investment decisions.

The objective of this research is to:
1. Evaluate current federal pavement condition measures (Ride Quality, Rutting, Faulting, and Cracking), performance thresholds, and overall performance measure with respect to:
a. Consistency – across various pavement types, network designations, and lane configurations
b. Usefulness – in network-level pavement condition summary and asset management decision-making, prioritization, and forecasts; and
c. Alignment – with state established pavement condition metrics

2. Provide recommendations to improve existing measures and/or identify metrics that better reflect pavement failure mechanisms and enhance decision-making taking into account not
only the assessment of current and future condition but also their implications in economic analyses of long-term maintenance and rehabilitation. Evaluate pavement leading indicators as an alternative to the current version of the PM2.

3. Identify and address in detail specific challenges for each condition measure (Ride Quality, Rutting, Faulting, and Cracking) for consistency, including thresholds. For example, determine if wheel path cracking considerations could be revised to provide more consistent results across pavement types (e.g. composite, concrete) and pavement widths (e.g. <12 ft.) 4. Evaluate structural capacity indicators for potential consideration as a Federal measure.

Proposed research activities include:
1. Conduct outreach interviews to State DOTs and evaluate DOT publications (e.g TAMPs) to:
a. Capture current uses for federal and state-specific pavement condition metrics and their relative strengths and weakness with respect to identified network-level uses
b. Quantify the extent of the State DOTs’ differences with current federal pavement metrics
c. Capture alternative procedures states are using to determine and communicate pavement condition and/or failure as well as network-level decision-making
d. Source State DOT condition data sets, including corresponding state and federal ratings and network-level pavement maintenance recommendations

2. Conduct a comparative analysis between state and federal measures and determine the ability to utilize federal measures to replicate network-level decisions.

3. Evaluate alternative methods of federal measure with best practices of state measures to develop a list of alternative methods that could be used for pavement management measures and meet both State and Federal needs.

4. Provide summary and comparison of current vs. alternative methods with respect to evaluation criteria at national and individual state levels

5. Provide guidance on how to enhance the utility of current federal measures and/or condition thresholds and recommend revisions in a format useful to adoption into the HPMS Field Manual

Desired products include:
• Evaluation of federal measure with respect to consistency, usefulness, and alignment
• Guidance on how to increase the utility of current metrics and/or thresholds
• Recommendations for revised pavement condition metrics and/or thresholds
• Recommendations for updated HPMS Field Manual

This topic is of significant interest to AASHTO, TRB, and the DOTs, having ranked third amongst potential NCHRP topics in the recent TAM Research Prioritization conducted as part of the 2020 Mega Meeting of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Asset Management, in cooperation with the TRB Asset Management Committee (AJE30).
The following are organizations and contacts who may be interested in using the results of the research and supporting its dissemination:
• AASHTO Committee on Performance-based Management: Tim Henkel, Chair (Minnesota DOT, (651) 366-4829, [email protected]), Matt Hardy (AASHTO, (202) 624-3625, [email protected])
• AASHTO Subcommittee on Asset Management: Matt Haubrich, Chair (Iowa DOT, (515) 233-7902, [email protected])
• FHWA Office of Asset Management: Steve Gaj (FHWA, (202) 366-1336, [email protected]) Tim Henkel, TAM Expert Task Group Chair (see contact above)
• TRB Asset Management Committee (ABC40): Tim Henkel, Chair (see contact above)

• State departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) across the United States are required to establish performance targets as part of their asset management efforts. The target- setting requirements for transportation performance management (PM2) of pavement and bridge condition generally require agencies to consider three factors; the measured condition of the assets, expected deterioration over time and project level accomplishments. The measured condition of the asset is the ultimate measure of progress and an effective way for agencies to demonstrate that they are making progress as required by federal regulations.
• Research assessing the consistency of National Bridge Inventory (NBI) condition metrics has found variability between individual inspectors when inspecting “control bridges” for study. In other words, there is the potential for any given bridge inspector to assess the current condition of same bridge differently. This variability means that the conditions of bridge could improve in the absence of a project just by having a different inspector interpret the field condition differently. A similar potential exists for pavement condition assessments. This demonstrates the potential inconsistencies due to human interaction, but the same could be true of technologies if applied or calibrated differently across agencies.
• Pavement and bridge conditions rely on assessment methods that are subject to variability from one assessment to the next and from one assessor or one technology utilization to the next. This variability may occur in the absence of projects or significant field deterioration. This research project would attempt to evaluate the impact of condition assessment variability on agency wide target setting required for asset management.

The outcome from this effort will benefit quality assurance (QA) methods for data collection and inspection efforts, quantify the variability and sensitivity in target setting for DOTs, and help budget planning for asset inconsistencies.

• Review and summarize existing published research related to the
• consistency of field-assessed pavement and bridges whether based on human interaction or applied automation, and include a review of training programs associated with human and automated assessments. Additionally, review research on the impact of assessed condition variability on target setting.
• Review NBI and Highway Pavement Monitoring System (HPMS) submittals over multiple years to identify examples of spontaneous improvement or rapidly changing conditions from one assessment to the next and assess the sensitivity of condition assessment variability on target setting in transportation asset management.
• Develop a methodology and guidance manual to define the uncertainty associated with variability in condition assessment when setting asset management targets and provide means to rectify inconsistencies in the assessments when they appear.

• According to FHWA’s transportation performance management (TPM), the purpose of transportation asset management is to provide the most efficient investment of funds. This decision-making is being based on data that is subject to variability. Understanding and quantifying (if possible) the impact of data variability will allow federal, state, and local agencies to recognize the importance of data quality and how it might impact their ability to deliver projects and strive for the national transportation goals. The outcomes and benefits are:
o Showcase the importance of quality and consistent data collection methodology
o Tie the data to decision making and funding
o Evaluate the impact of condition assessment variability on agency wide target setting
o Highlight progress on 490.319(c) Data Quality Management Program
o Provide states and federal a baseline expectation for changes in annual variability in measures, failure to reach targets, and/or best practices to avoid data quality issues.

• Since the performance measures are consistently tied to specific data inputs, each state could use this research to understand the potential volatility in target setting and performance measures. The summary of best practices and pitfalls will also allow transportation agencies and vendors to improve inspection protocol. Testing of the data should be a part of the research, with a few select agencies comparing potentially the same data in a single year across multiple sources or reviewing the historic trends of individual data pints to highlight inconsistencies and the impact of those inconsistencies to overall measures and targets.
• This research would best be shared in an open forum or webinar so all agencies and consultants tasked with data management can obtain the information. The AASHTO Performance Management Committee should be interested in supporting this research to ensure that the performance measures produced by transportation agencies are of the highest quality.