Most municipalities are managing multi-million-dollar pavement networks using survey data that’s three to five years old. In that time, roads deteriorate, budgets shift, and the gap between what the data says and what’s actually happening on the ground grows wider every year.
We put together a set of facts — pulled from our own platform data and from established pavement preservation research — that make the case for why real-time, continuously refreshed data changes the pavement management equation.
1. Data that keeps pace with your roads
RoadwayAI refreshes network condition data every 24 hours. Traditional pavement condition surveys are typically run every 3 to 5 years, meaning most agencies are budgeting and prioritizing projects based on information that’s already significantly out of date by the time it’s used.
2. Small shifts, measurable impact
While working with our clients, our modeling has found that a budget reallocation as small as 0.033% was enough to shift the trajectory of the pavement network from decline to improvement. Small, data-informed adjustments — not just bigger budgets — are often what move the needle.
3. The case for timing
This isn’t a new idea in pavement engineering — it’s well established in the research. A widely cited study by Galehouse, Moulthrop, and Hicks (2003) found that every $1 spent on preservation at the right point in a pavement’s life cycle saves $6 to $10 in future rehabilitation costs. Earlier research (NCHRP Synthesis 223) put the figure at $3 to $4 saved per dollar spent — either way, the direction is the same: timing is money.
4. What happens when preservation is delayed
State DOT research, including data cited by INDOT, shows that reconstructing a road already in poor condition can cost up to 10 times more than the preservation work that would have kept it in good condition in the first place. The World Bank’s pavement deterioration model puts a similar number on it: restoring a road after it has slipped into poor condition can cost roughly 4 times more than maintaining it before that decline happens.
5. Catching decline before it’s visible
The throughline across all of this research is the same: pavement decline is far cheaper to manage when it’s caught early. That requires data current enough to catch a network before problems are visible to the public — not years after the fact.
What this means for your network
None of this is about spending more — it’s about spending at the right time, on the right segments, with data that actually reflects current conditions. That’s the problem RoadwayAI was built to solve.
Curious what your own network’s data would show?
SOURCES CITED
Galehouse, Moulthrop & Hicks (2003), pavement preservation cost-benefit research
NCHRP Synthesis 223 (Geoffroy, 1996)
World Bank Pavement Deterioration Model (Shahin, 2005)
Indiana DOT (INDOT) Pavement Preservation Program