APPENDIX D: Case Study Questions

Individual Case Study Questions

1. Organization:_______________________
2. Type of Organization:_______________
3. Date:____________
4. Position:________________________________________
5. Does your mapping software map out areas safely and efficiently for the crews?
6. How is remote sensing technology (drones, LiDAR) used by crews? How are labor hours impacted?
7. Have you found one type of mapping vector (point, line, polygon) to be more beneficial than another?
8. If yes, which one is more beneficial and why?
9. What obstacles were encountered during the implementation of new tools and technology?
10. Have maintenance issues occurred with the utilization of new software or hardware? If yes, what were the issues and how were these issues resolved?

11. What benefits or inefficiencies have you gained since implementing tools and technology that are new to your organization for your RLAM program?

12. How is activity tracked at RLAM locations?
13. If RLAM locations are mapped, what does that process look like?
14. What issues have you encountered, or would you anticipate encountering moving to a more advanced system to map/track RLAM activities?
15. With your current mapping system, are you able to achieve your yearly RLAM objectives?
16. If you are not meeting your yearly RLAM objectives, what is the main preventing factor?
17. How much training related to RLAM do you receive, on average, per year?
18. What type of RLAM training is completed each year?
19. How much of your position is dedicated to RLAM?

20. How many years of experience do you have with the organization’s current software and hardware to plan and track RLAM activities?
21. Have the new tools and technology your organization is using expanded the avenues your team can target for RLAM activities (pest activity, endangered species tracking, etc.)? If yes, what are the new areas?
22. Have your new RLAM tools and technology reprioritized your RLAM workload?
23. How old are your tools and technology?
24. What is the life expectancy of your tools and technology?
25. Are assets that are planned and/or installed during the construction phase placed into roadside operation’s maintenance planning and tracking system?
26. Is roadside maintenance an important aspect of the transportation agency?
27. What has your DOT done/what could they do to improve employee morale?

Organizational Case Study Questions

Organization:_______________________

Type of Organization:_______________

Date:____________

Position:________________________________________

Geographic Region: _____________________

LAMP Maturity: __________________________________

Organization structure

28. Organization structure description:
29. What type of organizational structure does your DOT use when managing vegetation?

Funding

30. What percentage of the DOT’s funding goes to roadside maintenance operations?
31. How does your organization keep track of vegetation management costs?
32. What are the costs for the software used by your organization?
33. What are the costs for the hardware used by your organization?
34. What subscription fees is your organization required to pay for all software/hardware? Do you need to pay by user or an overall fee for access?

RLAM plan design, incorporation, and implementation

35. What does your organization’s RLAM plan include?
36. If you do not have a fully developed RLAM plan, what steps have been taken so far in the creation of the RLAM plan? What are the next steps in the implementation of your organization’s RLAM plan?
37. What year was your RLAM plan implemented?
38. What sparked the development or update of your RLAM plan?
39. Did issues occur during implementation of your organization’s RLAM plan? If yes, what were the issues encountered and how were they resolved?
40. Is RLAM integrated into the roadside maintenance planning process?
41. How has RLAM become integrated into the planning and everyday operations?

42. Has RLAM been incorporated into the state Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP)?
43. What aspects of your Transportation Asset Management Plan can apply to your RLAM?

Management/RLAM work

44. Is RLAM used as a tool to inform geographic mapping and management?
45. Within your DOT, is there consistency across the state in how RLAM is being used?
46. Is RLAM completed from a reactive or proactive perspective?
47. How many acres/lane miles does your organization manage each year (for facilities and roadside)?
48. What percentage of total land is actively managed by the DOT each year?
49. Are you managing all areas according to your RLAM plan?
50. If you are not managing all areas according to your RLAM plan, what is the main prevention factor?
51. Do you approach RLAM from an inventory mapping approach (to view site history) or a general guidance perspective?

Contractors

52. What RLAM work is completed in-house?

53. Are construction planning and design contracted out, or is this completed in-house? If both, what percentage of construction design and planning is completed in-house?
54. For work that is contracted out to non-governmental agencies, are the same tasks regularly contracted out? If most work is contracted out, why is that?
55. Has the decision to use in-house or contract staff helped or hindered your organization’s ability to implement the RLAM plan?

Mapping

56. If mapping and maintaining records of RLAM is done manually, what are the reasons for not using tools and technology to complete this task?
57. Do you feel your process allows you to map and collect data accurately?
58. Do you feel your process allows you to map and collect data inexpensively?
59. Does your mapping software plan for a safe and efficient workflow of field crews?
60. Have you found one type of mapping vector (point, line, polygon) to be more beneficial than another? If so, what is it and why?
61. What assets are included in your data dictionary for mapping purposes?
62. Are assets that are planned and/or installed during the construction phase placed into roadside operation’s maintenance planning and tracking system?

Software/hardware

63. What are the driving factors behind using the tools and technology your organization is utilizing?
64. How does your organization determine what software/hardware will be purchased?
65. What software/hardware (brands) are utilized for RLAM by your organization?
66. What hurdles has your organization overcome when implementing new tools and technology?
67. Does your organization’s IT department review updates to software systems prior to pushing them out, or are updates completed according to manufacturers’ recommendations?
68. What compelled your decision to go with the tools and technology that your organization is using?
69. If your organization is using drones or LiDAR, have you found that it has made the RLAM work more efficient?
70. If your organization is using drones or LiDAR, have you found that it has reduced the cost of the RLAM work?
71. Have issues occurred with the utilization of software or hardware? If yes, how were these issues resolved?

72. What benefits or burdens has your organization incurred since implementing tools and technology that are new to your organization for your RLAM program?

73. Have the tools and technology exposed new vegetation issues that need to be managed? If yes, what new areas are they?
74. Have your RLAM tools and technology reprioritized your RLAM workload?
75. How many years has your organization been using the current RLAM tools and technology?
76. What is the expected life cycle of your tools and technology (in years)?
77. Are the tools and technology used to make informed decisions for RLAM?

Staff training and experience

78. What percentage of your roadside operations staff or contractors have experience with RLAM tools and technology?
79. How many years of experience, on average, does each member of your staff have with RLAM tools and technology?
80. How much overall training is given to each staff member, on average, per year for vegetation management and vegetation safety feature management? What type of training is completed each year?
81. What is your team’s proficiency level with the organization’s current system?

Equipment

82. Is your organization using a GPS/AVL system for tracking activities? If yes, what system is your agency using, and during what DOT activities is the GPS/AVL system turned on?
83. Does your organization frequently encounter equipment breakdowns? If so, how often, and what equipment experiences issues?
84. Is LAM equipment shared between multiple locations (garages)?
85. How is shared equipment use scheduled across a department-wide scale?