OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has unveiled a reengineered website for StreetSaver®, the first and leading pavement management tool for the San Francisco Bay Area. The new website debuts several powerful features to help public works directors do the job of tracking and maintaining city and county networks of local streets and roads.

The biggest change is that the new site combines both www.streetsaveronline.com (with access to the Streetsaver® software) and www.mtcpms.org (which provided information and news related to MTC's Pavement Management Program) into one convenient, mobile-friendly site accessible via one URL — www.streetsaveronline.com.

"The new website will be a great improvement for users since it integrates the best features of the old sites into one portal," MTC StreetSaver® Program Manager Sui Tan explained. "We've also greatly improved the user experience and beefed up the content." The software, Bay Area pavement condition reports, issues of the StreetTalk newsletter and related items are now conveniently located on one website.

The website offers users new content in the form of best practices, white papers, updated product information and expanded training for users. "The new website is more product-oriented and offers trainings, blogs and, in the future, one-hour webinars to nurture our customers' understanding of the product," said Tan.

StreetSaver® is an off-the-shelf pavement management software that is available through a web browser, anytime and anywhere. It provides public works personnel a consistent method of keeping records of pavement conditions and needs. The system was designed to help local cities and counties better allocate resources, predict the future condition of their pavements at different levels of funding and demonstrate the impacts of underfunded road programs. Twice a year MTC convenes a "User Week" where local public works staff get in-person training. 

StreetSaver® licenses its software to all 101 cities and nine counties in the region as well as 350 additional users, including cities, counties, consultants, homeowners' associations, universities and US Forest Service branches nationwide, with a few international users.  According to the website, StreetSaver® is now managing a total of 313,391 lane miles of roadway.

While the main goal of StreetSaver® is to provide cities and counties with a state-of-the art tool for tracking their pavement conditions and scheduling treatments, there is a side benefit to the regional adoption of a common pavement management software. By deploying the StreetSaver® software widely among all Bay Area cities and counties and generating data on revenues and funding shortfalls, MTC is able to create an aggregate picture of the region's pavement funding needs. Since 2008, StreetSaver® has been providing investment analysis for the biennial update of the California Statewide Local Streets and Roads Needs Assessment (www.SaveCaliforniaStreets.org).

Highlights from the new website:

• The Academy: Users new to StreetSaver® can learn how to use the software through instructor-led and online self-paced courses. More in-depth lessons with a GIS toolbox are also available for more advanced users.

• Updated Product Information: The Products page features detailed summaries and photos of the capabilities of StreetSaver®, StreetSaver® Plus (includes both pavement and traffic sign assets) and MobileRater (allows a user with an Android hand-held device to collect data and calculate pavement condition index in the field).  

• Resources: The website also provides blog posts, webinars and case studies to give customers a deeper understanding of the software and industry trends.

Coming next June, MTC's StreetSaver® team plans to roll out another set of improvements to make the software more compatible with all browsers and with Apple hand-held devices.  

With the region facing a $20 billion gap in funding for maintaining its 48,000 lane miles of aging local streets and roads and bringing them to a state of good repair, the StreetSaver® software — and the website and live support that go with it — helps cities and counties get the most mileage out of their limited pavement dollars.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. 

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission