Documenting training opportunities related to transportation asset management

Abstract

Many public agencies are now seeking training in the concepts, tools and processes of Transportation Asset Management. Some are creating their own training materials. Some are relying on vendors. Others rely on public providers such as Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) centers. While efforts to create Asset Management training have resulted in greater availability and variety of training opportunities, the lack of coordination between groups providing these courses can lead to a lack of accessibility. To date no comprehensive inventory has been done of available training. This study represents the first attempt at such an inventory. Since no registry of Asset Management training exists, the project relied heavily on an advisory group of transportation professionals who are close to Asset Management activities. The group made valuable suggestions on agencies, institutions, and vendors to include in the survey, and often provided information on courses not available on the internet. The project is divided into two primary parts; Asset Management courses available to practitioners of transportation for professional development and for-credit course offerings available at universities. For the purposes of this study professional development courses were defined broadly, and include the traditional half-day, single-day, and multi-day seminars as well as web-based seminars, on-line courses, and teleconference-based classes. The second part of this study involved identifying Asset Management courses available for credit through universities. These courses are also documented in this report.

The course directory is available on the web at http://www.mrutc.org/tam_training/.