Understanding Asset Management Systems Utilized by Municipalities in Massachusetts

Join us on Stump April 3rd when Dr. Walla Mogawer will discuss a recent study of asset management systems.

This study purpose was to catalog the different pavement management systems (PMS) being used by municipalities, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and Regional Planning Agencies (RPAs) throughout Massachusetts. An internet survey showed that there are currently 13 different PMS software programs being used in Massachusetts, there are varied approaches used for condition data collection, and there are multiple indices determined from the data being use to make investment decisions. The different PMS programs being used in the state were researched and compared. Each is uniquely different as compared to the others, especially in terms of calculation of indices. Thus distress/condition indices calculated using different software programs, but using the same condition data, might be different. Overall, this study helps outline the existing PMS state of practice at the local and regional level in Massachusetts. It also helps identifies obstacles that lay ahead in achieving MassDOT’s goal to have an overall idea of the pavement condition in Massachusetts, for both state and local roads.