Research Project
Asset Management and Metropolitan Planning Organizations
This project will provide insights into the asset management practice at a handful of MPOs with an eye on transferring the lessons learned to other regions and to highlight any improvements that can be made to the existing state of practice in these regions.
- Principal Investigator
- Sriraj, P.S.
- Research Area(s)
- Data Development
- Funding Source
- Midwest Regional University Transportation Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Abstract
Various agencies and stakeholders have opined that one of the major obstacles to successful implementation of asset management within organizations has been with respect to the lack of coordination and agreement on the goals of asset management. While the technology for managing assets is available, one needs to overcome the hurdles presented by the human activity system. It is in this context that this project will contribute to pushing the envelope by providing a better understanding of the human activity system as well as identifying the key barriers towards successful implementation of asset management at the regional level. The project has the following five specific tasks: 1) Perform literature review regarding asset management tools and the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). 2) Review the state of the practice in participating MPOs and individual organizations. 3) Develop a template for SSM to characterize the investment decisions made by regional planning agencies and the role asset management can and does play in these decisions. 4) Conduct case studies of metropolitan planning organizations. 5) Synthesis of case studies to identify issues, gaps, and opportunities for applying asset management at the regional level. A report or paper from this research is not immediately available.