The primary goal of this proposal is to develop a customized concept of operations (ConOps) of rail track asset management and risk management, built upon an understanding of existing practice, needs, and gaps. The ConOps will be customized to a particular rail agency: PATH.

This research will adopt an “user-in-the-loop” approach to ensure that the research is well aligned with the rail industry needs and has a great potential to generate impacts on practice. Specifically, this project will be conducted into three interrelated phases. In phase I, track experts from PATH will be engaged for the project team to understand the current practice and critical needs related to track asset management. In Phase II, a ConOps will be developed to fit PATH priorities and identify data needs for implementing the ConOps. In Phase III, in collaboration with PATH, a “best-practice” resource guide will be prepared to support their customized track asset management systems.

The asset management and risk management framework that will result from this study is expected to aid PATH to identify the optimal ways to reduce the life-cycle cost, simultaneously ensuring infrastructure safety and durability.