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GIS and GPS based asset management for Road and Railway Transportation Systems in India
“Asset Management…goes beyond the traditional management practice of examining singular systems within the road networks, i.e., pavements, bridges, etc., and looks at the universal system of a network of roads and all of its components to allow comprehensive management of limited resources. Through proper asset management, governments can improve program and infrastructure quality, increase information accessibility and use, enhance and sharpen decision-making, make more effective investments and decrease overall costs, including the social and economic impacts of road crashes.”
— Organization for European Cooperation and Development Working Group, Asset Management Systems, Project Description, 1999
“In the transportation world, asset management is defined as a systematic process of operating, maintaining, and upgrading transportation assets cost-effectively. It combines engineering and mathematical analyses with sound business practice and economic theory. The total asset management concept expands the scope of conventional infrastructure management systems by addressing the human element and other support assets as well as the physical plant (e.g., highway, transit systems, airports, etc.). Asset management systems are goal driven and, like the traditional planning process, include components for data collection, strategy evaluation, program development, and feedback. The asset management model explicitly addresses integration of decisions made across all program areas. Its purpose is simple—to maximize benefits of a transportation program to its customers and users, based on well-defined goals and with available resources.”
— Blueprint for Developing and Implementing an Asset Management System, Asset Management Task Force, New York State Department of Transportation, April 22, 1998
A comprehensive discussion on asset management is given in “Asset Management Primer” by the U.S. Department of Transportation (1999), adapting the following definition: “Asset management is a systematic process of maintaining, upgrading, and operating physical assets cost-effectively. It combines engineering principles with sound business practices and economic theory, and it provides tools to facilitate a more organized, logical approach to decision-making. Thus, asset management provides a framework for handling both short- and long-range planning.” Guiding principles for asset management are defined in the Primer to be customer focused, mission driven, system oriented, long term in outlook, accessible, user friendly, and flexible. It should include strategic goals, inventory of assets (both physical and human resources), valuation of assets, quantitative condition and performance measures, measures on the achievements of strategic goals, usage information, performance capabilities, relational data bases to integrate individual management systems, qualitative issues, links to the budget process, engineering parameter, economic analysis tools, user friendly output presentation, and continuous feedback.
Asset management is needed because private and government sectors are required to include performance and return-on-investment considerations in the evaluation and project selection. This approach is considered to be essential for the improvement of efficiency, productivity, and the increase of the value of services and products to transportation users. Typical highway assets include descriptions of infrastructures such as pavements, structures, tunnels and hardware, including guardrails, signs, barriers, impact attenuators, electronic surveillance, monitoring equipment, and operating facilities. Other assets include but are not limited to construction and maintenance equipment, vehicles, real estate (such as buildings, property, roadside and right of way), materials, human resources, corporate data and information, as well as ground and water transportation facilities and equipment.