FHWA Emergency Relief Program Innovation

Mobile Solution for Assessment and Reporting (MSAR)

Emergency Relief Program

FHWA provides stakeholders with Emergency Relief funding after a disaster.

To receive funds stakeholders must provide documentation through the use of two very similar FHWA workflow processes

Federal Lands DSR (Damage Survey Report)

Federal Aid DDIR (Detailed Damage Inspection Report)

Both workflows are paper based and require excessive clerical work

Both could benefit by integrating technology

Typical Functions at the Damaged Site

Data Collection: photos, videos, and sketches, engineering drawing, fill DDIR/DSR.

State and local authorities assemble Program of Projects, request for funding letter and other supporting document for ER coordinator approval.

Federal approvers must closely inspect submissions for mathematical accuracy, transfer information from the state summaries and accounting spreadsheets to a national tracking spreadsheet for each disaster.

Average time to finish forms is around nineteen hours per DDIR/DSR

Field Operations

Who collects and reports Disaster Data?

State DOT’s

Federal-Aid Division Office Staff

Federal Land Management Agencies

Federal Lands Division Office Staff

Tribal Members

Current collection using PENS, CLIPBOARDS, US Mail.

Business Process Challenges

The time to deliver and approve DDIR/DSR can exceed 90 days

Data errors can result in duplication of effort and potentially result in request for new inspections.

Situational awareness is based on preliminary reports and does not always provide management a clear understanding of disaster impact.

Estimates for damages (POP) may take up to a year to report

Congressional or internal program inquiries for data can take significant time to compile and typically involve educated estimation

Legacy paper (manual) process is frustrating and wasteful

Communication of the Notice of Intent or presidential/governor declaration is not easily tracked by stakeholders and could delay response

Business Transformation Requirements

Use mobile device technology Simplify stakeholder communicationsProvide management real time situational

awareness. Reduce unnecessary clerical function and

wasted paperExpedite the DDIR/DSR processConform with FHWA ER Orders

Solution: Mobile Solution for Assessment and Reporting (MSAR)

IRB approved tool that enables the integration of:

Mobile device technology

Data collection-online forms, geospatial tagging, offline map viewing

Corporate workflow and dashboard reporting

The technology is specifically targeted:

For assessment teams

Inspection report with view spatial data, inspection routes and

Reduce clerical burdens, and data entry errors.

Assessment Team

ER Coordinator

Field Office/HQ Program Office Reports

Texas Division – MSAR Pilot Provides for a timelier submission of Damage Survey Summary Report (DSSR) and Detail Damage Inspection Reports (DDIR).

With the use of MSAR for the April event, Division office has access to damage assessments within 3 weeks vs. 3 months.

Providing transparency for the ER Event to FHWA, TxDOT and Local Agencies.

The impact of the ER event (in $$$) is visible to all.

Able to convey information to TxDOT and Local Agencies (Declarations, event eligibility, affected counties, etc.)

Consistency in reporting eligible ER projects.

Consistent format for developing DDIR’s.

Use of one platform to develop the data required for submission and approval of the ER projects, and supporting documentation for the ER Program (Declaration/Proclamation, Letter of Intent, Letter of Acknowledgment, etc.)

Eliminates the use of spreadsheets, SharePoint and scanners to transfer documents for review, revisions and approval.

Time savings in the ER project approval process, allows for on the fly revisions without a paper trail.

Revisions and approval can occur within a day vs. days or weeks under the old process.

Ease of monitoring and managing multiple ER events in the Texas

TxDOT Emergency Management Coordinator “I’m very impressed with the App and being able to quickly see the estimated totals.”

TxDOT Supervisor “I have found the App to be pretty easy to use. As with anything, the more you use it, the easier it gets. I have used both the App and the Desktop versions to upload DDIRs.”

MSAR Benefits Mobile Device Application

User friendly mobile app requiring little to no training.

Mobile app is installed from the Apple, Android and Windows app stores for quick distribution after a disaster.

Photos are tagged with report number and geolocation, and are automatically associated with the report

Locally encrypted data store ensures that MSAR data and photos is stored securely on the mobile device.

Open standards like HTML5 and XML ensure compatibility with most devices

No additional management of client devices is required

Offline functionality – If downloaded in advance, users can have access to surrounding data points to see damage history and reduce the potential for duplication.

Keep track of final cost of the event. Before and after repairs work pictures

MSAR Benefits (continued)

Enterprise Solution – Meaning it could be used to manage additional workflow. (Bridge inspections, CAP reviews, Design scoping report, and other workflow which uses forms, etc.)

Cloud Service Provider By using Software As a Service the time required to design and build typical

traditional technologies is reduced by 60 percent.

No need for infrastructure and support personnel to manage servers.

FedRAMP (Federal Risk Management and Authorization Management Program) Authorized vendor – reduced time required to develop an agency Authorization Package

Easy to use customer portal

Easy access for internal/external stakeholders (State/Federal agencies)