Benefits and Importance of Transportation Asset Management

Economic hardship should never be an excuse for not implementing a sound asset management program.

In fact, the present financial status of the country should encourage technocrats, leaders and even the civil societies to advocate for the judicious use of financial resources and maintenance of infrastructures. In achieving this, it is worth looking at and considering the benefits and importance of transportation asset management.

The challenging circumstances of aging infrastructure and the continued growth of population in the US are now requiring better and long-term solutions. It puts a greater demand, especially in the transportation department to find ways on how to maintain and make the most of their transportation assets.

The annual national conference that the Transportation Research Board holds regularly is an excellent venue for engineers and infrastructure management practitioners to be updated on the current status and development in the transportation sector, which discusses transportation asset management among others.

Transportation Asset Management is created to minimize the life-cycle costs of managing and maintaining the transportation assets such as bridges, roads, tunnels, and rails. It is a strategic and a systematic process of operating, expanding, maintaining and upgrading transportation assets effectively.

With the aid of engineering and economic analysis, as well as the data and information collected, they can get a clearer idea of how such plans can be implemented.

The implementation of a transportation asset management program undergoes a series of stages. Given the objective of managing and improving the transportation assets, the program involves identifying which requires immediate attention, where improvements are needed and what specific solution works well. The data gathering process is thorough and given primary importance.

After all the planning and objective creation, the next subject matter is how the TAM program can be applied. What are its benefits to the public?

With the current condition of transportation infrastructure in the US, a clear identification of its performance needs and cost in maintaining and preserving the existing assets is vital. Considering the public expectations and desires will also help identify the actual solutions that are beneficial to all.

In the implementation of the transportation asset management program, several benefits are projected. One is to maximize the transportation system performance, which eventually will improve public satisfaction.

Another is improving transportation services that exceed public expectations, which sounds like great transport convenience for all.

Minimizing the life-cycle costs of the transportation infrastructure is another benefit of TAM. If bridges, roads, and highways are properly constructed and maintained, there will no frequent repairs, traffic congestion can be minimized and accidents can be avoided.

Implementing an effective transport asset management program requires relentless updating. From the planning process up to the efforts of collecting data, and even to the building of support for additional transportation funding, that’s something that the transportation sector has to cope.

There are also different levels of funding that should be considered. The challenges of coming up with the right sum of money for the program to be completed should also be overcome.

The call now belongs to the US transportation department and the government.