| The system is designed specifically for small municipalities, including the approximately 1,250 Wisconsin towns which contain the majority of the state's roads. |
For years, many small-town officials have subscribed to a fix-the-worst-first philosophy for municipal road repairs. However, this approach is gradually changing as more and more Wisconsin towns obtain free versions of PASER and Roadware software, innovations of the college's Transportation Information Center.
Developed in the late 1980s in cooperation with the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, PASER (Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating) is a simple method of rating asphalt, concrete and gravel roads. Manuals filled with pictures detail a 1-to-10 evaluation system in which "10" means excellent while "1" stands for a failed road. The manuals and related video also explain how roads deteriorate, and describe proper repair and replacement techniques.
"It's as much a training tool as it is an evaluation tool," says Stephen T. Pudloski, an assistant faculty associate at the Transportation Information Center. "Our system allows someone who is not an engineer to go out and learn how to manage their pavement."
That's important because the system is designed specifically for small municipalities, including the approximately 1,250 Wisconsin towns which contain the majority of the state's roads. "Towns can easily implement this system by themselves with minimal instruction," says Pudloski, a former public works director who spends a good share of his time traveling around the state helping municipalities with transportation-related programs.
Stephen T. Pudloski spends a good share of his time helping Wisconsin towns incorporate PASER and Roadware, innovations of the Transportation Information Center.
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Once local roads have been rated, they need to be inventoried, and that's where Roadware comes in. This software (its most recent version was released in December, 1996) allows users to determine budget parameters, select projects and see the implications, says Pudloski. "It allows you to project what will happen to your road system based on which projects you select." Sometimes it's hard for local governments to justify fixing new roads, he adds, but this software shows that in certain situations doing so might be the right choice. "Often, you're best off choosing a preventive or best-first mode over a worst-first mode."
Walt Raith, a transportation planner for the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, has been using Roadware for more than two years and describes the software as user friendly. "We originally feared it would get too complex for local governments, but it didn't. You don't need a powerful computer to use it--it comes on a couple of disks and has good help menus. We will continue to use it and recommend that towns do also."
One example of Roadware's success comes from Fond du Lac County, where the highway committee had proposed slashing its road maintenance budget by almost half--from $1.5 million to $800,000. A Roadware analysis showed that this would drop the average road condition rating by one point, therefore costing the county more in years to come. The committee changed its mind, voting to increase the budget by 10 percent. Also, says county highway engineer Dave Beaster, "We used to have hard copies of records spread all over. Roadware helped us consolidate things."
PASER, too, had a big impact in Fond du Lac County. "With three supervisors each overseeing a different part of the county, it was hard to know if all roads were being evaluated by the same standards," says Beaster. "Then these supervisors, along with people at the town level, were trained on PASER and given a group of sample roads to evaluate. With very few exceptions, all the raters' numbers were remarkably close."
One of the best things about PASER and Roadware is that they are simple enough to master with only minimal training, says Pudloski. "From the beginning, those we've trained have agreed to help others learn the software. Every part of the state has someone who can train others."
Currently, about 300 Wisconsin municipalities use Roadware or PASER, which were developed with funding from the Federal Highway Administration and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The list could grow considerably if municipalities buy into a recommendation of the state's Local Roads and Streets Council. Emmer Shields, the council's chairman, says his group is encouraging all local governments to implement pavement evaluation systems based on PASER's 1-10 rating system. At a minimum, says Shields, "the recommendation of the council is that every mile of local highway receive a rating consistent with the PASER system. These ratings would be supplied to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which presently has no database on the overall quality of Wisconsin's local roads.
"It's a very strong recommendation," says Shields. "We would like to see all municipalities using the same system so we can get a better overall idea of the quality of the state's roads."
--By Paul Bauman--
| For further information, please contact: |
Stephen T. Pudloski, 608/262-8707
pudloski@engr.wisc.edu
Copyright 1997 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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Markup by webmaster@engr.wisc.edu
Date last modified: Wednesday, 19-Mar-1997 12:00:00 CST
Date created: 19-Mar-1997
