Creating an integrated provincial road asset management system (rams) using open source technology

Abstract

Although the Gauteng provincial road network encompasses only one percent of the entire South African road network, it serves the economic heartland of South Africa and carries around 66 million veh-km on a daily basis. In order to effectively manage and maintain the provincial road network the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GPDRT) made the decision to use Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to create, view, review and maintain a digital representation of their operational road network, its road structures and associated information. Each element of the provincial road network is thus explicitly regarded as a vital record within an operational Road Asset Management System (RAMS). This paper provides an overview of the province’s RAMS ecosystem, describing each of the systems that form part of it and how advancements in open source technology are used to seamlessly integrate these geographic disparate databases and systems to ensure a single view of the latest information. It also examines how the RAMS ecosystem is laying the foundation for and positioning the Department to support Smart City initiatives in the province.