UC Irvine

This paper presents a methodology for effective operation of road management equipment. The primary goal of this research is to aid public agencies with day-to-day road management within limited financial resources. In order to demonstrate the value of this approach, we present a case study using data collected for 18 regional offices of the South Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. Road agencies want to know whether they currently have sufficient equipment to handle work demands, but this is difficult to predict. Thus, a methodology was developed to employ historical data on road management equipment, and two evaluation indicators were identified. Using our method, equipment can be classified into four groups: (1) frequently used and important, (2) relatively less used and important, (3) barely used and low importance, and (4) frequently used and low importance. In our case study we show that these can be used by regional offices to determine either to lend or borrow among offices or to consider purchase for both long and short term use. While our study focuses on a specific case study, the overall methodology can easily be applied by similar decision makers in other countries. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.