Data Management Issues

The Transportation Cabinet maintains databases which cover a wide variety of information relating to all aspects of the highway agency. The Transportation Center has reviewed available data relating to pavement design and construction, under project KySPR-04- 272 "Evaluation of Linking Pavement Related Databases." This project was focused on data which is typically utilized in pavement and materials related activities. This study indicated there were many sources of data, but all did not have a cornman reference system. Some databases utilized the standard county, route and rnilepont reference system, while others utilized project number, contract number, or other reference system. The ability to accurately report on the condition, performance, construction activities, and [mancial aspects of our highways is essential to the efficient construction and operation of our highway infrastructure. The Cabinet currently has many data management systems in place or in the implementation phase, such as AASHTO Transport and PONTIS, Visual Pavement Management Systems (VisualPMS), Operation Management System (OMS), Highway Inventory System (HIS), eMARS, and others. Many of these systems have the ability to work within the GIS environment. This project must be coordinated closely with other initiatives that are on-going or planned within the Cabinet, to insure there is no duplication of effort and insure that existing/future needs are addressed. This project will include representation across various functional areas within the Transportation Center and the Cabinet. It will also be structured to allow for various "quick wins" to be identified in individual functional areas, thus providing benefits to the Cabinet, prior to the completion ofthe overall project.