RSMS00 Highway agencies of all sizes have found RSMS an effective way to identify road conditions and to prepare plans and budgets to repair them. Roads with inadequate drainage deteriorate at a faster rate then roads with adequate drainage. It is much cheaper to repair roads just beginning to deteriorate than to repair roads in poor condition. The management system, and the RSMS00 software that supports it, contain five components. Each is discussed in turn below.
Users divide many roads into sections based on changes in geometry.
They gather information from agency records and a windshield survey. Field surveyors can record the field information on a laptop computer, or record it on paper with data entry in the agency's office. RSMS measures road condition in terms of surface distresses and drainage characteristics, and their respective severities and extents. The default surface types and distresses are for local roads in New England. Managers can modify them for the road and distress types common in their geographical region.