In a ceremony in Tallahassee, Fla., last week, the Florida Engineering Society and Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers awarded Florida's Turnpike Enterprise the prestigious 2007 Governor's New Product Award for the Turnpike Enterprise Asset Management System (TEAMS).
The Governor's New Product Award is given annually to a Florida-developed product, machine, process or material that stimulates the life and growth of Florida industry. Awards are based on the product's economic impact, innovation, creativity, its potential to save time and money and ability to improve efficiency and productivity, as well as the technology used.
TEAMS is a web-based management tool designed to identify and prioritize transportation project needs throughout the Turnpike Enterprise's entire toll highway network. The TEAMS comprehensive database includes an inventory of all Turnpike assets, layered with reporting and on-line mapping capabilities.
"A primary function of TEAMS is to protect Turnpike bondholders by improving forecasting for capital and periodic maintenance expenditures," said William Thorpe, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise's chief financial officer. "Infrastructure maintenance accounts for a large portion of the Turnpike's operations. TEAMS saves the Turnpike money, which, in turn, contributes to greater operating efficiencies for the state of Florida and the people who live here."
Built with a web-type graphical user interface, TEAMS enables engineers and budget managers to generate accurate renewal and replacement forecasts, identify optimal asset maintenance funding levels and reap both short- and long-term savings, while meeting the Government Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 requirements.
The database contains roadway condition data and renewal/replacement prediction information. It enables quick assessment of the asset conditions and provides a method to forecast and prioritize periodic and capital expenditures. All Turnpike Enterprise personnel have access to TEAMS from their desktop computers through the Turnpike intranet.
Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is a component of Florida's Intrastate Highway System, operating 460 miles of owned roadway and providing toll-operations services on an additional 146 miles. Motorists travel nearly 18 million miles per day on the turnpike system, generating over $700 million in revenues annually.