Asset Management Peer Exchange Report

by Niloo Parvinashtiani, NOCoE Technical Services Associate

In September 2020, the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) hosted a virtual peer exchange on transportation asset management. The virtual peer exchange brought together over a dozen agencies from across the country and more than 40 participants from both Operations and Asset Management offices. The peer exchange was kicked off by several presentations and discussion on defining Transportation Asset Management for TSMO. Once a framework and definitions were established, two aspects of TSMO Assets Inventory was discussed: (1) Developing inventories; (2) Maintaining and operating inventories. Day 2 of the peer exchange ended with discussion around developing budgets, plans, and investment decisions for Operation and Maintenance of TSMO Assets.

The last day of the peer exchange was dedicated to roundtable discussions. The first subtopic that emerged from the discussions was how to get buy-in from other groups including executive and upper-level management, other technical divisions within the DOT, and DOT districts. Another major topic of discussion in the peer exchange was how agencies assess the condition of a device that is functioning but has an antiquated technology. When it comes to TSMO Asset end of life, we need to make a distinction between age and condition.

The peer exchange wrapped up with discussion around decision-making and prioritizing resources. FHWA's Handbook for Including Ancillary Assets Transportation Asset Management Programs was identified as a helpful resource to assign tier categories to the assets and determine the amount of data that needs to be collected per asset tier.

The full report is now available here and includes attendee polls, presentation slides, and resources.