IMPROVING PAVEMENTS FOR CITIES AND COUNTIES. SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BENEFITS USERS THROUGHOUT NATION

Developed in 1984 as a pilot program for the San Francisco Bay Area, the pavement management system (PMS) of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is now used by public works departments nationwide. The PMS is a network-level, computer-assisted method of organizing and analyzing information about pavement conditions in order to develop the most cost-effective maintenance treatments and strategies. MTC, a transportation planning agency responsible for the 9 San Francisco Bay Area counties, developed the PMS with the assistance of 6 local jurisdictions and at the recommendation of 15 area pavement experts. MTC hired ERES, Inc., developers of the PAVER PMS, to work with the local agencies and to assist in the development and early refinement of the system. Since the initial release of the PMS in the winter of 1986, the number of MTC PMS users has expanded from the original 6 to more than 100 jurisdictions. In addition to cities and counties, users today include universities, national forest agencies, and consulting firms that offer the program to their clients. This article discusses the MTC's continued support of the PMS and its role as a facilitator in the area of pavement management, and the experience of San Leandro, one of the original 6 users of the PMS. Also discussed is the impact of the PMS on generating revenue for pavement maintenance. Statistics are provided on San Leandro's pavement maintenance revenue in April 1986 and January 1990, revenues and pavement expenditure classes of Bay Area MTC PMS Users versus Nonusers, and PMS budget results for 23 jurisdictions. While the focus of this article is on a pavement management system for local jurisdictions, an insert with this article provides information relating to state management system requirements.