Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 OVERVIEW OF A MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

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A multimodal transportation system comprises three components: physical transportation

facilities, vehicles, and users/nonusers corresponding to passenger travel and freight ship-
ments. The mission of a transportation system is to ensure safe and efficient movements of
people and goods, which are predominantly achieved by various types of vehicles. The use
of vehicles is constrained by availability of physical transportation facilities that have lim-
ited usage capacities. Thus, the three components—facilities, vehicles, and users/­nonusers—
are interdependent on one another, and should, therefore, be addressed holistically.

1.1.1 Multimodal transportation facilities

A transportation system involves various types of physical facilities, such as roads, bridges,
drainage structures, tunnels, traffic control devices and safety hardware (signs, lighting, sig-
nals, pavement markings, guardrails, and crash cushions), roadside furniture, transit stops
and stations, rail tracks, navigable waterway channels and ports, and pipelines. Each facility
plays a unique role in providing transportation services. For instance, roads, bridges, drain-
age structures, and tunnels carry traffic; traffic control devices and safety hardware foster
smooth traffic flow and safety; and roadside furniture enhances convenience and aesthetics.
For passenger travel or freight shipments, one type of transportation facility may be used by
different types of vehicles or multiple types of transportation facilities may be used by one
type of vehicle. Facilities used by vehicles for people or goods movements could be largely
grouped according to travel modes.

1.1.2 Transportation vehicles

For passenger travel, typical travel modes include auto (private, taxi, rideshare), transit (bus
and bus rapid transit, streetcar and light rail, subway and commuter rail, ferry), air, non-
motorized (bike, e-bike, scooter), and walking modes. Vehicle types may include automo-
biles, buses, streetcars, light rail vehicles, subway/metro trains, ferryboats, airplanes, bikes,
e-bikes, and scooters. For freight shipments, key travel modes include trucking, freight rail,
shipping, cargo air, and pipeline modes. Vehicle types generally consist of trucks, freight
trains, ships, and cargo planes.

1.1.3 Passenger and freight movements

Copyright 2018. CRC Press.

The service provided by a transportation system is generally related to passenger travel and
freight shipments. For a given transportation system, the two categories of service occur

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 2 Transportation Asset Management

simultaneously. Ensuring safe and efficient travel of people and shipping of goods from
respective origins to destinations are at the core of transportation service.

1.2 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS

1.2.1 Interdependent system components

The facility, vehicle, and user/nonuser components that make up a transportation system are
interdependent on one another. People and goods are moved by different types of vehicles.
The shared facilities used by vehicles have limited capacities. In temporal and spatial dimen-
sions, the travel demand of people and goods for a certain area is assigned to traffic zones
and travel modes, and then converted to traffic flow on routes. To provide acceptable levels
of service, people travel and goods movements, travel mode, vehicles, and facilities need
to be adequately matched. Traffic impacts could be analyzed to assess levels of service.
Meanwhile, vehicle usage and facility performance could also be evaluated.

1.2.2 System component life cycle considerations

As part of dealing with the interdependent transportation system components (facilities,
vehicles, users/nonusers) holistically, the useful service life cycles of system components
need to be taken into consideration to ensure they are treated in an equitable manner.
This is because different system components have different life cycles. Different types of
facilities, vehicles or users/nonusers in the context of each system component also exhibit
differences in their service lives. For a specific facility, its delivery process goes through
planning, programming, design, construction, and in-service steps. The useful service
life cycle is typically defined as the time interval between two consecutive construction
interventions. During the service life cycle, repetitive maintenance and repair treatments
are implemented in a coordinated manner to ensure the designed service life is achieved.
Likewise, for a specific vehicle, the delivery process involves planning, design, manufac-
turing, and in-service steps. It also maintains a life span from production to retirement
and will include repair and maintenance while in service. Although the entire life span of
a person or a piece of goods may not be fully associated with the transportation system,
the age of the person or the piece of goods does affect the performance of vehicles and,
in turn, the performance of facilities. At any certain point in time, people and goods of
various ages are using a transportation system. Similarly, a wide range of age distribu-
tions of people and goods may pass by one location of a transportation system over a
certain period. Moreover, people or goods in the same age group may behave differ-
ently. Considering service life cycles of facility, vehicle, and user/nonuser components will
help assess their temporal and spatial interdependency, interactions, and performance in
a more rigorous manner.

1.2.3 Multidimensional impacts and multiple performance goals

With facility, vehicle, and user/nonuser components considered holistically over their
respective service life spans, the impacts of the three system components in time and space
dimensions are multidimensional in nature. The impacts can be classified into direct and
indirect impacts. The direct impacts are directly relevant to the three components of a trans-
portation system in time and space dimensions. The indirect impacts are related to those
caused by the transportation system, such as economic growth triggered by transportation

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 Introduction 3

improvements. The overarching goals of managing the transportation system are to miti-
gate adverse impacts and promote positive impacts to achieve efficiency, effectiveness, and
equity. For the facility component, specific performance management goals include pre-
serving physical facility conditions at or above a desired level and minimizing transporta-
tion agency costs. For vehicle and user/nonuser components that are associated with system
usage, the specific performance management goals are concerned with minimizing user/
nonuser costs, ensuring certain levels of service for vehicle/user/nonuser mobility and safety,
and reducing energy consumption and environmental impacts. The indirect performance
management goals are geared toward job creation and freight shipment quantities in support
of economic prosperity. The relative importance of various performance management goals
among facility, vehicle, and user/nonuser components, and the goals dealing with different
types of facilities, vehicles, and users/nonusers for each system component may be treated
differently. Also, the relative importance may change over time. Tradeoffs among the goals
need to be considered in the process of decision-making.

1.3 TRANSPORTATION ASSET MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Transportation asset management can be defined as a strategic, systematic process of con-

structing, preserving, expanding, and operating the transportation system to achieve a cost-
efficient, effective, and equitable system performance. It focuses on engineering and business
practices for predicting the travel demand that directly affects the performance of physical
facilities and system usage. It may rely on innovative financing to maximize the budget and
allocating the available funding to address the needs for performance improvements in a
holistic and proactive manner (Li et al., 2002a,b; Li and Sinha, 2004). Figure 1.1 shows
key components of the systematic transportation asset management process that generally
accomplish the following functions:

• Establish transportation performance management goals and performance measures

• Carry out travel demand and traffic flow predictions

Step 1. Transportation system performance management goals

Step 2. Transportation performance measures

Step 3. Data collection, processing, and database management

Step 4. Transportation facility and usage performance modeling

Step 5. Travel demand and traffic flow predictions

Feedback

Step 6. Current and future system performance analysis

Step 7. System needs assessment and candidate projects

Step 8. Project evaluation

Step 9. Project selection and programming Budget

Step 10. Project implementation

Figure 1.1 Framework of transportation asset management.

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 4 Transportation Asset Management

• Conduct transportation facility and system usage performance modeling

• Analyze performance trends according to predicted traffic and non-traffic conditions
• Assess needs for facility and system usage performance improvements, and recom-
mend investment alternatives
• Evaluate the economic feasibility of investment alternatives
• Identify the best sub-collection of economically feasible investment alternatives under
budget and other constraints
• Implement selected investment alternatives
• Provide feedback to refine the subsequent cycle decisions

1.3.1 Transportation goals, objectives,

and performance measures
A policy goal is a general statement of a desired state or ideal function of a transportation
system. A system management goal or an objective is a concrete step toward achieving
a policy goal, stated in measurable terms. Goals and objectives reflect the perceptions of
the transportation agency and the users of what the transportation system should achieve.
The overarching policy goals are transportation efficiency, effectiveness, and equity, which
can be stated in a more concrete form as transportation agency and user-related objec-
tives, including facility preservation, agency and user costs, traffic mobility, safety, and
environmental impacts, as well as the indirect objective of stimulating economic develop-
ment. Performance measures are specific quantitative or qualitative indicators that directly
or indirectly reflect the extent to which a transportation system stimulus realizes its agency
and user objectives. They could provide information on the extent to which the expected
facility and operation performance targets are met, the transportation users are satisfied
with changes or improvements in the service, and the way in which available resources are
transformed into performance improvements from resource allocation.

1.3.2 Data needs, collection, processing,

and database management
The analyses associated with the key components of transportation asset management,
ranging from performance modeling to project selection and programming, are intensively
data-driven. Specifically, the historical and current data collected will help monitor the dete-
rioration trend and the current condition of the existing physical facility and system usage
performance. Such data can be employed to calibrate statistical models for predicting facil-
ity conditions and system usage performance levels at a future point or period in time. The
prediction results will, in turn, assist in identifying the needs for improving the facility
condition and system usage performance in the future, proposing investment alternatives
for performance improvements, and estimating the expected benefits after the investments
to assess the economic feasibility of the related investment alternatives. It could also support
prioritization of economically feasible investment alternatives and tradeoff analysis of dif-
ferent investment strategies.
The data items that need to be collected depend on the types of physical facilities, available
resources, and organizational units that will use the data. Typical data needs for a trans-
portation asset management program can be related to transportation supply and demand,
as well as the environment that directly affects transportation performance. The primary
data categories can be classified as data on multimodal transportation network inventory;
conditions of pavements, bridges, tunnels, transit fixed facilities and rolling stock, navi-
gable inland waterways, freight facilities, and traffic and safety hardware; travel demand

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 Introduction 5

and traffic; vehicle crashes; and climatic and environmental features. For each category of
data, multiple data points should be collected in temporary and spatial domains through
sampling. Different data sampling, collection techniques, and equipment used for data col-
lection will inevitably lead to variations in data accuracy and precision. Measures of quality
assurance/quality control need to be established for data collection. The raw data needs to
be processed, compiled, and geo-coded in databases for storage and subsequent analysis.

1.3.3 Multimodal physical facility and system

usage performance modeling
System performance refers to the way in which the physical facility condition and system
usage performance in a transportation system deteriorate over time or after cumulative use.
One of the purposes of this effort is to determine historical trends and to develop statisti-
cal models for forecasting the future facility condition and system usage performance. This
information can be used to identify the needs for improving facility condition and system
usage performance, help to recommend investment alternatives as countermeasures for per-
formance improvements, and estimate the extent to which the performance improvements
could be achieved after implementing the investment alternatives.

1.3.4 Travel demand and traffic flow predictions

Transportation investment decisions are based on the predicted facility condition and sys-
tem usage performance, which are affected by traffic flows. Therefore, prediction of future
traffic conditions becomes essential. Typically, the traffic flow predictions are obtained from
traffic assignments using the travel demand estimates in the form of origin–­destination
(O–D) trip tables. In general, the travel demand estimates can be deterministic or time
dependent and the traffic assignments can be carried out using deterministic, time depen-
dent or dynamic approaches with added complexity. In this effort, the field traffic counts for
the current period need to be employed first to calibrate and validate the traffic assignment
models, which can then be utilized for traffic assignments to establish the future traffic flow
through an iteratively computational process.

1.3.5 Transportation system performance trend analysis

The deterioration of the physical facility condition is a manifestation of the combined effects
of traffic and non-traffic factors such as design standards, materials in use, construction
quality, and climatic and environmental features. Also, system usage performance is greatly
influenced by traffic and environmental factors. With the future traffic flows predicted from
travel demand and traffic forecasting models, they could be utilized as inputs to assess the
trends of facility deterioration and system usage performance levels.

1.3.6 Needs assessment and investment alternatives

Needs assessment aims to identify deficiencies of physical facility condition and system
usage performance for a future point or period in time, typically predicted using perfor-
mance models. It also focuses on developing countermeasures for mitigating or eliminating
those identified problems in accordance with pre-specified minimum acceptable perfor-
mance ­levels. As a result, a short list of investment alternatives that have been demonstrated
to be cost-effective for each given set of circumstances can be compiled. Such a short list is
preferably standardized for all units of a transportation agency. To facilitate cost estimation

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 6 Transportation Asset Management

in the long run, it is necessary to estimate the resources needed to perform each of the iden-
tified investment alternatives. It is desirable to incorporate the standard resource require-
ments into the database to ensure automated resource needs and cost estimation for similar
types of investment alternatives that may be proposed in the subsequent period.

1.3.7 Project evaluation

The implementation of an investment alternative will lead to changes in the values of per-
formance measures under various system management objectives. The overall benefits of
the investment alternative can be determined per multiple itemized benefits as captured by
changes in related performance measure values. The benefits achieved from the investment
alternative in terms of reductions in agency and user costs are conventionally estimated in
dollar values. However, other benefits associated with traffic mobility, safety enhancements,
and reductions in vehicle emissions and noise pollution are normally expressed in non-dollar
values. Two approaches can be used to combine the individual benefit items measured in
noncommensurable units. One approach is to convert the non-dollar-valued benefit items
into dollar values and then express the overall benefits in dollar values. The other approach
is to convert noncommensurable benefit items into utility values via weighting, scaling, and
amalgamation according to the multicriteria decision theory. For each investment alterna-
tive, the difference in the utility values before and after the investment, triggered by changes
in the values of performance measures, is considered as its overall non-dollar-valued ben-
efits. One of the major issues encountered in project evaluation is interdependencies in the
total benefits of multiple projects. That is, the total benefits of simultaneously implementing
multiple projects may be equal to, greater than or smaller than the summation of the benefits
of implementing the same set of investment alternatives individually. Based on either the dol-
lar or non-dollar benefits and cost estimates, a subcollection of the investment alternatives
will be screened out and the remaining investment alternatives are considered economically
feasible or efficient enough to be further promoted for the subsequent project selection and
programming analysis.

1.3.8 Project selection and programming

Due to budget limitations, even a smaller portion of the economically feasible or efficient
investment alternatives can be selected for actual implementation. The objective is to
ensure that the selected investment alternatives could yield the maximized overall benefits
subject to budget and other constraints. Traditionally, ranking, prioritization, and optimi-
zation techniques with added complexity are used to conduct this analysis. Particularly,
optimization models have been developed for solving real-world resource allocation prob-
lems due to their inherited mathematical rigor. As part of the optimization of investment
alternatives constrained by budget and other factors, tradeoff analysis can be carried out
to identify the best combination of investment alternatives by achieving maximized overall
benefits. The criteria for tradeoff analysis may be consistent with dimensions for consider-
ation in establishing transportation policy goals, objectives, and performance measures,
such as tradeoffs among different system management objectives, between preserving facil-
ity condition against improving system usage performance, across transportation modes,
and by flow entity concerning people and goods.
One of the key issues involved with optimization formulations is the uncertainty of bud-
get available for resource allocation. This is because the project selection and programming
decisions are based on an estimated budget many years ahead of the project programming
period. The actual budget may be equal to, greater than or smaller than the expected budget.

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 Introduction 7

As time passes and updated budget information becomes available, project selection and
programming decisions must be updated accordingly to ensure realistic results.

1.3.9 Project implementation and feedback

The systematic asset management decision is an evolutionary process that is expected to
be responsive to the needs of the transportation agency and the user. It is important that
the analysis be flexible enough to keep abreast of the changing needs of transportation, yet
robust enough to be applicable in a wide variety of areas related to transportation manage-
ment. Feedback evaluation involves the routine collection and analysis of appropriate data,
comparing the results with the previously established goals, objectives, and performance
measures, and evaluating the performance of the strategies, policies, and operational pro-
cedures that comprise the program. The feedback component of the process for feedback
evaluation allows practitioners to assess the effectiveness of their efforts, identify areas for
improvements, justify these improvements, demonstrate the benefits realized, and support
requests for additional resources.
Transportation systems are undergoing a time of great changes in travel demand, physi-
cal facility preservation, technology, and public expectations. These changes have had a
corresponding impact on how these systems should be managed. There are institutional,
strategic, measurement, integration, and analytic challenges that the transportation agency
must overcome to be successful in implementing and managing the transportation system.

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 Chapter 2

Transportation goals, objectives,

and performance measures

2.1 GENERAL

Transportation asset management goals may be classified into policy goals and system man-
agement goals. A policy goal is a general statement of a desired state or ideal function of
a transportation system. An objective is a concrete step toward achieving a goal, stated
in measurable terms. System management goals are related to system performance in that
they reflect different perceptions of what the transportation system should achieve and are
often developed through extensive public outreach efforts. Objectives are more concrete
statements of system management goals. Thus, system management goals and objectives
incorporate a broad range of agency and user perspectives on which elements of system
performance are important.
Performance measures are specific quantitative or qualitative impact types that directly
or indirectly reflect the extent to which a transportation system stimulus realizes system
management goals or objectives. According to the U.S. National Cooperative Highway
Research Program (NCHRP), a performance measure is implicitly defined as statisti-
cal ­evidence used to measure progress toward specific, defined organizational goals and
­objectives (NCHRP, 2009). As such, performance measures should reflect the satisfaction of
the transportation service user as well as the concerns of the system owner or operator. In its
National Performance Review, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines
performance measurement as a process of assessing progress toward achieving predeter-
mined goals, including information on the efficiency with which resources are transformed
into goods and services (outputs), the quality of those outputs (how they are delivered to the
clients and the extent to which clients are satisfied) and outcomes (the results of a program
activity compared to its intended purpose), and the effectiveness of government operations
in terms of their specific contribution to program objectives (FHWA, 1999). Performance
measures are needed at various stages of the transportation program or project development
process for purposes of decision-making at each stage and at various hierarchical levels of
transportation management and administration.

2.2 TRANSPORTATION POLICY GOALS, SYSTEM

MANAGEMENT GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES

Goals and objectives are related to system performance in that they reflect different percep-
tions of what the transportation system should achieve and are often developed through
extensive public outreach efforts. As such, goals and objectives incorporate a broad user per-
spective in which elements of system performance are important. Understanding different
goals and objectives is critical to identifying the different types of performance indicators

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