The adopted ordinance for the Transportation Safety & Investment Plan (Measure X) outlines the requirements for the use of local road maintenance, pothole repair and safety funds. To meet these requirements, a jurisdiction must demonstrate maintenance of a minimum level of local street and road expenditures as outlined in the ordinance. There is also a requirement for each jurisdiction to have a pavement management program. "Each city and the County of Monterey shall develop, or participate in the development of by TAMC, a pavement management program. They shall submit regular reports on the conditions of their streets, to ensure timely repairs and keep the public informed. The development of the pavement management program by TAMC is eligible to be funded out of this program prior to distribution of funds to the cities and the County."
A pavement management program typically utilizes a software-based tool for analyzing pavement conditions and reports findings on rehabilitation/maintenance strategies based on funding levels. The software focuses on providing cost-effective recommendations that enhance the overall system Pavement Condition Index (PCI). It provides administrators and maintenance personnel with:
- A current inventory of roadways within a jurisdiction;
- The current pavement condition for the roadways;
- A recommended project listing of all pavements needing maintenance, rehabilitation, or replacement;
- The most cost effective level of maintenance or repair appropriate at the time of the inspection; and
- A forecast of budget needs for maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement of deficient pavement sections for a multi-year capital improvement program, at various overall condition levels.
- Jurisdictions must typically review and update the information for all roads every two years and calculate the budgetary needs for rehabilitating or replacing deficient pavement sections for the current year and the next three years. It is recommended that all arterials and collectors are re-inspected every two years, while residential streets and local/rural roads are re-inspected every four years. A percentage of the network can be scheduled each year so that the entire network is updated on a four year cycle.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) "StreetSaver" system is the software of choice in the Bay Area and is used by all 109 cities and counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, and by over 200 users outside the Bay Area. MTC makes available the software, user training, and technical support at very reasonable prices. Software licenses start at about $750/yr and are tiered up based on centerline miles (see attached info sheet).
The Transportation Agency would like to discuss the development of a Pavement Management Program with the cities and County. Agency staff are interested in determining how to best collect and manage the pavement needs in our region and what role the Agency could serve to help address those needs. Within our region a variety of pavement management systems are utilized. While many of the smaller agencies do not use a formal pavement management system, many of the middle sized agencies now use the MTC “StreetSaver” software. And the County currently uses a custom system developed for their agency several years ago. Most of the data collection for our region is old and needs to be updated.
One option would be for each jurisdiction to use their own system. They would need to inspect and collect their roadway data, determine the pavement condition indexes, and develop forecasts of budget needs, maintenance strategies and multi-year project lists on their own. It is recommended that smaller agencies that do not currently have a functional pavement management program purchase software such as MTC "StreetSaver" program. Agencies that currently have a functional pavement management program could continue to collect their own data and utilize their current program. Or they could migrate their data into the latest version of the MTC “StreetSaver” program. (This would allow them to take advantages of the features of the new software features such as GIS linkage, mobile phone data collection and asset inventory (sign & ADA) options). This option would require more agency staff time and effort to perform the necessary pavement management program activities.
Another option would be for the Transportation Agency to take to lead to develop an implementation plan with the help of a consultant. It would be advantageous for all the agencies in the region to develop a coordinated system with a common software such as "StreetSaver". This would have the advantage of getting all the agencies up to speed with a coordinated pavement management program and current data. TAMC could also get a regional license to utilize the agency’s compiled data for regional planning purposes and for the Statewide Needs Assessments. To move forward with this plan the Agency (with the participation of the cities and the County) would:
- Determine the Pavement Management Program Scope of Work
- Estimate the Cost and Schedule for the Pavement Management Program
- Issue Bid for a Pavement Management consultant
- Hire Pavement Management consultant
- Develop Pavement Management Program
The consultant's scope of work (see attached draft) could be tailored to meet the needs of our area. They could provide software assessment/conversions, conduct pavement condition surveys, update maintenance and rehabilitation histories and maintenance strategies, prepare funding analysis, and GIS linkage. They could also provide training and final reports/ council presentations. We could pick and choose what work we want a consultant to do. We may only be interested in getting the field data and taking care of the funding analysis on our own. Or we may want more or less assistance with setting up systems, analysis, reports, presentations and training. It is anticipated that the consultant process to develop the Pavement Management Program could be completed and results available before the end of the calendar year. MTC indicated that they can provide all the "StreetSaver" licenses for our region at a discounted bundled rate. And the development of the pavement management program is an eligible Measure X cost. The key advantage of this approach is that we get everyone up to speed together with a common system and current data in a timely manner.
Staff is prepared to move forward on the development of a Pavement Management Program based on the approach preferred by the cities and County.