While the principles and methods of asset management are often illustrated by pavement and bridge examples, the approach applies to other components of the transportation system as well. The objective of NCHRP Synthesis Topic 37-03 was to identify current U.S. and international practices in asset management for six classes of non-pavement, non-bridge infrastructure assets: traffic signals, signing, lighting, pavement markings, culverts, and sidewalks. This paper addresses the studys findings regarding traffic signals specifically. Several aspects of asset management were reviewed, including basic management practices, budgeting methods, ways of measuring asset performance, estimates of asset service life, information technology support for data management and decision-making, and perceived knowledge gaps and research needs. Study findings indicated variations in many aspects of agency practice, in the signal system technology employed, and estimates of component service life. More fundamentally, the study reinforced the importance of taking a broader view of asset management techniques to reflect electronic system components rather than physical infrastructure elements such as those constituting pavements and bridges. Agencies also need to a) accommodate rapid technological advances in these components, b) focus more on overall system performance, and c) account for the impacts of signal operation on a broad cross-section of population groups, whether as drivers or pedestrians.
Abstract