ABSTRACT
Since 1991, the US Federal Government has required each state to implement pavement, bridge, safety, congestion, public transportation and intermodal management systems. While this represented an important improvement in the management of transportation infrastructure, the potential benefits were greatly limited by the disconnected and fragmented approach employed by the various transportation agencies. As a result, it is now well-recognized that infrastructures are complex intertwined systems, requiring a holistic “integrated total systems” approach for their effective engineering and management. According to Thompson (2004), the need for applying asset management principles to public infrastructures was highlighted as early as 1997 by the US General Accounting Office (GAO, 1997), and the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) established a set of accounting requirements in 1999 (GASB, 1999). The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) established the Office of Asset Management in 1999 (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ infrastructure/asstmgmt/), and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) published a process-oriented guideline in 2002 (Cambridge Systematics, 2002).
