Challenge

In 2008, the Maine government enacted legislation specifying goals MaineDOT needed to achieve to maintain and rebuild the state's highway network by 2022 and 2027. This network includes approximately 8,887 miles of highways and 2,919 bridges. Besides the typical highway assets that most agencies look after, MaineDOT also maintains a number of non-traditional assets such as ferries, rail lines and buses which are leased to local agencies.

In order to meet the long term objectives of the legislation, MaineDOT would have needed to spend approximately $972 million during the current planning cycle. However, the available funding was only $402 million, leaving a shortfall of $570 million. Overall MaineDOT was faced with a $3.3 billion funding gap if the agency was to meet the standards outlined in the legislation by the deadlines of 2022 and 2027.

In addition to the $3.3 billion funding gap, the state's vast road network added to the challenge of meeting the legislated standards. According to MaineDOT Deputy Commissioner Bruce A. Van Note, “Compared to other states, Maine simply has a lot of miles of road and relatively few people spread out over a large area!” For MaineDOT, finding a new approach to managing the network had become a necessity.

Solution

The new asset management approach had to allow the agency to achieve both the new legislated standards and their ongoing goal of providing customers with the safest and most reliable transportation system possible, given the available resources.

Using the flexible budgeting available in dTIMS, MaineDOT was able to specify budgets in dollar amounts for maintenance, preservation and rehabilitation type treatments as well as acceptable levels for each Customer Service Level. The agency was also able to view the expenditures and impacts to the Customer Service Levels. To make this information more accessible throughout the agency, a management dashboard was implemented to allow MaineDOT staff to review the results online through their web browser.

Results

Using the flexible budgeting available in dTIMS, MaineDOT was able to specify budgets in dollar amounts for maintenance, preservation and rehabilitation type treatments as well as acceptable levels for each Customer Service Level.