Training opportunities in transportation asset management.

Many states and municipalities are currently implementing transportation asset management techniques and strategies. To adopt the institutional change required for such a systemic overhaul of transportation agency business, agencies must participate in training opportunities. While many of these training opportunities, offered by various providers, currently use the phrase transportation asset management as the catch, most do not conform to the AASHTO-led efforts. Since many public agencies now seek training in transportation asset management, it is imperative to address the quality and substance of the training programs. Some states and localities create their own training materials, some rely on vendors, and others rely on public providers such as Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) centers. The Midwest Regional University Transportation Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is compiling a comprehensive inventory of available training. Since asset management-termed training covers a wide range of topics, short abstracts and analyses will be written for each training course identified. Courses will be categorized by major type. A primary focus will be whether a training course is primarily concerned with broadly defined asset management, pavement or data management, or some other topic. Since many individual components of transportation asset management exist, courses must be catalogued based on their relative strengths and specialties. This project utilizes an external advisory group to comment on and react to the materials collected. In addition, since no registry exists of asset management trainers, the project relies heavily on people close to asset management activities to suggest agencies, institutions, and vendors to be included in the survey. A likely outcome of the effort is an identifiable list of trainers. The survey will provide data on target audiences, focused strategies, tools and techniques, and related content. The end review, evaluation, categorization, and abstracting will benefit the transportation community. This paper will attempt to make sense of what exists, identify glaring deficiencies in courses, and objectively analyze current programs.