This study provides information to state DOTs on roadway safety hardware management systems that could help increase their use of state-of-the-art practice techniques. The is report was developed for State DOT personnel, particularly chief engineers and other top management, involved with the planning, funding, and execution of roadway safety hardware management systems.

Volume 1 addresses how to apply a methodology for estimating the life expectancies of major types of highway system assets. The methodology is designed for use in lifecycle cost analyses that support management decision making. Volume 2 describes the technical issues and data needs associated with estimating asset life expectancies and the practices used in a number of fields--such as the energy and financial industries--to make such estimates.

Transportation asset management delivers efficient and cost-effective investment decisions to support transportation infrastructure and system usage performance measured in economic, social, health, and environmental terms. It can be applied at national, state, and local levels. This distinctive book addresses asset management for multimodal transportation, taking account of system component interdependency, integration, and risk and uncertainty. It sets out rigorous quantitative and qualitative methods for addressing system goals, performance measures, and needs; data collection and management; performance modeling; project evaluation, selection, and trade-off analysis; innovative financing; and institutional issues. It applies as easily to static traffic and time-dependent or dynamic traffic which exists on a more local level. It is written for transportation planners, engineers, and academia, as well as a growing number of graduate students taking transportation asset management courses.