Understanding the Road Intervention Planning Process to Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness Using Digital Tools

Modern civilization relies heavily on the road infrastructure, which makes its management to avoid unnecessary disruptions to its use of paramount importance. Along with accelerating efforts in the use of data and algorithms for all types of management, there are also accelerating efforts to use data and algorithms to improve road infrastructure asset management. Many of these efforts are focused on improving specifically the subprocess of planning maintenance interventions, including the selection of time of execution and the work to be included. These efforts are, however, done in the absence of a clear view of how road maintenance interventions are planned in the real world, which in turn leads to the situation that research results are less impactful than they could be. To address this gap, this paper presents an example real-world road intervention planning process, which was developed based on existing documentation, and interviews with experts and managers of a road infrastructure organization (e.g., operator or agency). The individual tasks are described using a process diagram [business process modeling notation (BPMN) 2.0] and explanations as to when and who makes which decisions based on which information are given. Benefiting from the overview of the entire subprocess, this paper then discusses parts of the process that would benefit from targeted research on the methods and digital tools to improve it. This paper provides a starting point, a common understanding of the road intervention planning process, for researchers and developers to create tailored methods and digital tools to improve the planning process in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.