NEW CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

13^th National Conference on Transportation Asset Management

August 7 – 10, 2021

Boston, MA

The 13th National Conference on Transportation Asset Management (TAM) provides an opportunity for all practitioners involved in their agency’s asset management initiatives to build core competencies and generate new ideas.  The conference program will include roundtable discussions, workshops, and technical sessions addressing all levels of asset management maturity.  Attendees will include representatives from federal, state, and local transportation agencies; Metropolitan Planning Organizations; public transit agencies; academia; and private industry.  The conference organizers are looking for both practical and innovative presentations for the five technical tracks and two cross-cutting issues listed below.  In addition to abstracts describing highway applications, abstracts that highlight topics featuring transit applications and transportation asset’s resilience to extreme weather events are of particular interest.  Selected abstracts will be featured in either poster sessions or technical podium sessions. 

 

This call for presentations replaces and supersedes the call that was issued prior to rescheduling of this conference. To be considered for inclusion in the August 2021 program abstracts must be submitted using the link below. This includes new abstracts as well as resubmissions or updates to abstracts that were previously submitted for the July 2020 program.

 

At this time the planning committee is preparing for this to be an in-person event and the program will be prepared as such. Presenters will be required to register and attend the conference to be included in the final program. 

 

Call for Presentation Topics

Track 1: Implementation
This track will highlight best practices and lessons learned from TAM implementation efforts.  Presentations will discuss experiences in the following core topic areas.  Abstracts should highlight:

• Plans into practice.

• Managing for performance.

• Distinguish between performance management and asset management.

• Integrating AM for secondary assets.

• Cross Industry best practices.

 

Track 2: Data Governance/Tools
This track will explore the development and implementation of data systems, highlighting data collection best practices, methods to estimate the expected return on investment, and strategies for communicating results. Abstracts should address:

• Data governance, data management, and Implementation of decision support tools, technology, and data analytics.

• Best practices/TAM tools and software.

• MODA-multi-objective decision analysis.

• Visualization.

 

Track 3: Managing Risk
This track provides a framework for transportation agencies to better understand how risk evaluation and management plays into asset management processes and TAMP implementation to inform decision makers and lead to enhanced investment decisions.  This track emphasizes operationalizable information to help agencies develop, implement, and track asset risks ranging from financial, strategic, operational, hazards, political, climate change/resilience, technological, environmental, social justice to life cycle analysis and planning. Abstract topics may include: 

• Incorporating risk into life cycle cost analysis and life cycle planning.

• Risk uncertainty on investment outcomes.

• Using asset data and risk analysis data to develop infrastructure hardening projects.

• Integration of risk indicators utilized in asset management processes/software.

Track 4: Partners and Peers
Transportation Asset Management Plans (TAMP’s) are not developed or implemented without considerable coordination among stakeholder agencies. This track explores the collaborative environment that improves TAMP'S and their uses, as well as internal resource needs to make them successful, including: 

• State practice – We are looking for good example of collaborative practices.
• ​​​​​​​Peer exchanges: lessons, challenges, and successes.
• Communicating TAM results and performance to partners and the public.
• Cross industry and modal experiences – We are looking for examples of transportation modes being integrated (highway, rail, transit, bicycle, pedestrian).
• Workforce – We are looking to explore organizational structures and staffing necessary for good asset management. 
   

Track 5: Sustaining Asset Management in your Organization
This track will explore efforts that have made (or plan to make) asset management a long-term, sustainable practice in organizations, or in other words "the way we do business", or asset management as the embodiment of an organization's cultural mind-set. Relevant topics may include:

• Lessons learned during the pandemic that have supported sustainability in your organization.
• How limited funding post-pandemic has affected asset management sustainability in your organization.
• Using Asset Management as a catalyst in Organizational Transformation to drive strategic outcomes.
• Creating organizational alignment and driving cultural change through formalized asset management frameworks, governance and principles.
• Bridging diverse organizational perspectives (e.g. Operations and Finance or Engineering and Maintenance, et.) through Asset Management.
• Formalizing operational excellence in asset management with digital operating models, documenting business processes and using data to support investment decisions.
• Creating benefits realization frameworks to show the value of asset management in the organization.

Crosscutting Issues 1:  Transit
Transit agencies have a unique perspective of maintaining diverse asset portfolios in a fixed operating environment.  Since the FTA’s Final Rule on Asset Management was published, transit agencies have developed asset management plans and established performance measures.  Agencies are now using this data to inform internal processes and to collaborate with stakeholders in regional planning initiatives.  We are soliciting presentations from transit professionals to speak about topics such as: 

• The use of asset condition, performance measures, and risk assessments in developing investment plans.

• Evolution in organizational processes and structure as a result of TAM initiatives.  

• Assessing the performance of transit asset management plans.  

• Condition assessment methods and asset lifecycle strategies.

 

Crosscutting Issues 2: Resilience
This track will address the importance of resilient systems and strategies for dealing with threats from extreme weather events, natural disasters and other events. Having a resilient system is responding both to the physical assets and operational challenges. We are soliciting presentations from transit professionals to speak about topics such as: 

• Success stories and moving beyond politics.

• Balancing resiliency requirements against programmatic practical design.

• Standards and practices for hydraulic engineering addressing today’s and future extreme weather events. 

• Integrating resilience into the planning process and the TAMP.

• Resiliency for Cyber security threats.

• Decision support tools to mitigate extreme weather events and natural disasters

• Innovative approaches and collaborative partnerships for preparedness

 

How to Submit an Abstract