Automated Permit Routing/Analysis System (APRAS), Electronic Permit Processing

The Client

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania possesses a diverse transportation infrastructure that spans its 45,330 square miles and links its 12 million citizens to their neighbors and the world. The commonwealth’s Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is a multi-modal agency with annual expenditures of about $3.8 billion in state and federal funds. PennDOT has direct responsibility for 40,500 miles of roadway and 25,000 bridges within the state. Heavy trucks (5+ axles) travel a total of 12 million miles daily across Pennsylvania’s highways.

The Challenge

PennDOT manages and processes permit applications from trucking firms that transport oversized loads on the state’s roads. The department issues more than 300,000 such permits annually. Trucking companies faxed permit applications to the department. Engineers then had to determine the impact on every bridge on the requested route. They identified the structures involved on the proposed route, analyzed them for capacity to carry the scheduled truck weight and size, and then made a decision as to whether or not that vehicle could travel on that route. The process was completely manual, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. As a result, permit approvals took anywhere from four hours to a full day. These delays had a negative effect on the revenue streams of the trucking companies who were forced to wait before dispatching their trucks.

The Solution

PennDOT engaged BearingPoint to develop and implement an Automated Permit Routing/Analysis System (APRAS). Our team analyzed PennDOT’s requirements, and then devised an Internet application that enables companies to submit an application electronically. When an application is submitted, APRAS accesses the department’s databases for information on roadway and bridge structures and automatically determines all the bridges on the proposed route. It then initiates the appropriate engineering programs, runs an analysis, and presents the results to a PennDOT bridge engineer to review.

The Benefits

APRAS is clearly making a significant difference in processing time. Says Dan Smyser, chief of PennDOT’s motor carrier division, “We’ve had reports from the industry that they’ve been able to get permits in 20 minutes from the time they click the submit button till it’s printing on their fax machine.”

Beyond saving time, APRAS is improving safety. “Under the old system,” Smyser recalls, “it was a real challenge to analyze the impact on every bridge—especially for long routes. Now engineers don’t have to spend all that time putting data in manually, running computer programs, and what have you—it’s all done for them.”

Equally important, APRAS is saving money for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania. “With the volumes of permits that we issue each year, we would have had to hire a lot more people to meet customer demands; this way, the system enables us to meet that demand with existing staff,” concludes Smyser.
View/Download the Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation case study (102 KB)