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71 A p p e n d i x B Business Context (or) Decisionmaking Process 1. Can you provide an overview of your state departments of transportation (DOT) organiza- tion structure? What role does the asset management division play? What is your role in the organization? 2. Which department or division within your highway organization is responsible for preservation maintenance of highway assets? Understanding of Fund Allocation at a Higher Level 1. Can you provide us an overview of the fund allocation process within your highway depart- ment (refer to Figure B-1)? In particular, start with the overall highway budget and describe the sequence in which the highway funds trickle down, keeping in mind the following items: In general, what is the process adopted to allocate money across the following: a. Emergency programs, legislative mandates, zero-tolerance programs, staff billets and sal- ary requirements, and constrained long-range plans b. Different investment types (Preservation Maintenance, Operations, Expansion) c. Different districts or regions within the state d. Can you think of any other factors that influence fund allocation at a high level before we talk specifics about asset preservation maintenance? 1. NCHRP Web-Only Document 41 (10) (NCHRP Project 20-24 [11]) defines three investment types or programs (Preservation Maintenance, Operations, and Expansion). Does your state DOT use similar categories? 2. Are the resource allocation decisions across different investment types made at the state level or at the district or regional level (refer to Figure B-2)? Understanding of Asset Preservation Budget Estimation and Resource Allocation in Detail 1. How does your state DOT define asset preservation maintenance? For example, what activi- ties are typically funded under the umbrella âasset preservation maintenanceâ? 2. How is the preservation maintenance budget estimated? What role does historical data play? 3. What kind of constraints does the DOT face in allocating preservation maintenance resources (e.g., budget constraints, performance targets, service levels, customer demands, environ- mental requirements, risks and liabilities)? 4. What is the process for allocating asset preservation maintenance dollars to different asset types like bridges, pavements, drainage systems, signage, or lighting? State DOT Interview Guide Book
NotWithin Scope Within Project Scope Highway Department Budget ($) Mandated or Zero Tolerance Programs Other Commitments Projects commi�ed in constrained long range plans (CLRP) Staff billets and Civil Service Rules (commi�ed salaries) Emergency Programs (snow removal etc.) Remaining Highway Department Budget ($) available for Alloca�on across regions Region/District 1 Region/District 2 Region/District 3 Region/District 4 Region/District 5 Preserva�on Expansion Operations Preserva�on Expansion Operations Preserva�on Expansion Operations Preserva�on Expansion Operations Preserva�on Expansion Operations Figure B-1. A Sample Resource Allocation Logic Framework. Asset Types Asset CategoriesRoads Structures SafetyFeatures Facili�es Preserva�on Maintenance Budget (At District or Regional Level) Policy, Goals and Objectives (At State , District or Regional Level) PerformanceMeasures (Examples: Structural Adequacy, Roughness Index, Number of Accidents) Asset Data (Examples: Roadway Data, Structure Data, Safety feature and facility data,Mobility data ) ShouldersPavements TunnelsBridges Drainage SignsLigh�ng Signals TollPlaza Rest Area Resource Alloca�on Decision for Preserva�onMaintenance Iterative Process Figure B-2. A Sample Decisionmaking Process for Resource Allocation Across Different Asset Categories.
State dOT interview Guide Book 73 1. How do you then determine the funds to be allocated to individual assets within a given asset type? Is a different process adopted for each asset type? 2. How do policies and performance goals impact the resource allocation decisionmaking pro- cess? Are policies set typically at the state level or at the district level? 3. What is the period/evaluation cycle employed for making resource allocation decisions (annual, biannual, 2 years, 5 years)? 4. In the resource allocation decision process, can you think of any issues if we adopt the categorization of assets based on a recently conducted study, NCHRP Report 632 (refer to Figure B-3)? a. Can you confirm if the assets listed in this slide represent the universe of assets that are in your state highways and local roads? b. If we adopt the same asset categorization, would we be missing any important asset types? c. After bridges and pavements, in your opinion, list four or five asset types/categories with the highest maintenance and replacement costs? Data requirements (understand what asset data is used by state DOTs to allocate preservation maintenance dollars): 1. What are the different asset data systems (e.g., Bridge Management System [BMS], Pavement Management System [PMS]) that your state DOT has? a. What types of data systems are available for the non-bridge and non-pavement assets? 2. Take each asset data system (e.g., BMS, PMS) and tell us what data is typically captured? a. Inventory b. Condition c. Usage d. What else? 3. How frequently is the data collected in each asset data system? Is it a complete inventory or a survey of a representative sample? 4. Can we get a list of performance measures (e.g., structural adequacy, roughness index, num- ber of accidents) that are used commonly by your state for allocating resources? 5. How do you gather the performance measures? Does the agency attempt to set uniform or comparable measures across different asset types? 6. How is the feedback among resource allocation decisions, data collection efforts, system per- formance, and agenciesâ policy and goals established or ensured? Overall Resources Available for Transportation Allocation Across Modes Allocation Across Assets Roads FacilitiesSafety Features Interstate System Other NHS Other Systems Highway Transit Rail Air Port Structures Scope of IHS Plan Allocation Across Networks Figure B-3. Example Framework from NCHRP Report 632: An Asset Management Framework for the Interstate Highway System.
74 Resource Allocation Logic Framework for Highway Asset preservation Analytical or Optimization Techniques: 1. What analytical tools are used for allocating resources for preservation maintenance? Are the tools asset specific or an integrated tool using data for different asset types? 2. What specific tools are used for sub-allocating funds available for preservation maintenance across different asset categories and to different assets within an asset category? 3. Are the analytical tools used to perform scenario or sensitivity analysis to determine optimal/ best solutions? 4. Are operations research techniques used for analysis? If so, what objective functions are con- sidered? What constraints are used? 5. What steps are taken to ensure validity of the tools or adopted approach? Outputs and Reporting: 6. Are documents that describe the agenciesâ asset management practice, maintenance manage- ment programs, and preservation resource allocation practices readily available? 7. What outputs are typically generated using models or tools used for making resource alloca- tion decisions? How are the outputs from the resource allocation process presented? 8. How is the preservation maintenance resource allocation success reported?
