A 1548 — Establishes Bridge Transportation Asset Management Plan Pilot Program; appropriates $9.5 million.

A1548 1R [First Reprint] ASSEMBLY, No.

Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)  Assemblywoman  Co-SponsoredLINDA by:S.

AssemblywomanCARTER CarterDistrict  22  (Somerset  and Union)   SYNOPSISCo-Sponsored     by: Establishes Bridge Transportation Asset Management Plan Pilot Program;

Assemblyman Sampson         SYNOPSIS      Establishes Bridge Transportation Asset Management Plan Pilot Program;

  CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT      IntroducedAs Pendingreported Technicalby Reviewthe byAssembly LegislativeTransportation Counsel.and Independent Authorities Committee on May 7, 2026, with amendments.

of section 2 of P.L.    ,P.L.    , c.    (pending before c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill).       “Pilot program” means the “Bridge Transportation Asset Management Plan Pilot Program” established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill).         2.    a.  The Department of Transportation shall establish a five-year “Bridge Transportation Asset Management Plan Pilot Program.”  The purpose of the pilot program shall be to inventory, assess, and make recommendations concerning the status of all bridges under the jurisdiction of the State or a county or municipality within the State.       b.    The commissioner shall collaborate with State agencies;

and      (4) a public-facing performance dashboard accessible through the department’s Internet website.       c.   c.     (1) As part of the pilot program, the department shall establish the “Bridge Infrastructure Innovation Module” to test the use of artificial intelligence-powered data analysis and sensor-based condition monitoring on high-risk and high-traffic bridges, as determined by the department.       (2) The department shall coordinate with the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation at Rutgers, the State University;

and the Stevens Institute of Technology on research, artificial intelligence modeling, and predictive analytics and shall apply the findings of the module to the pilot program to enhance bridge life-cycle risk scoring models and assessment accuracy and emergency response planning.       d.    The department shall seek federal matching funds to support the pilot program.              3.   3.   a.

Within one year of the effective date of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and for three years thereafter until1[until the end of the pilot program,program]1, the department shall submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature,Legislature 1[,]1 a report to provide an update on the implementation and performance of both the pilot program and the module.  At a minimum, a report submitted pursuant to this subsection shall include:            (1)(1)  a summary of bridges inventoried, assessed, and evaluated;

          (2)(2)  a progress update on the development and deployment of life-cycle risk scoring models, risk assessment tools, and the public-facing performance dashboard;

          (3)(3)  data collected and analyzed through the module, including, but not limited to, sensor-based condition monitoring and artificial intelligence-powered data analytics;

          (4)(4)  evaluation metrics, including, but not limited to, reductions in emergency repair costs, improvements in inspection efficiency, and safety alerts generated by the monitoring systems;

and           (5)(5)  the amount of federal funding secured to support the pilot program, pursuant to subsection d.

of section 2 of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill). bill).      b.    Five years after the effective date of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the department shall submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, a final report on the pilot program.  At a minimum, the report submitted pursuant to this subsection shall include:       (1) a cost-benefit analysis of the pilot program and the module;

          (2)b.   anFive evaluationyears after the effective date of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the effectiveness,Legislature reliability,as andthis scalability,bill), the department shall submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of artificialP.L.1991, intelligence-poweredc.164 bridge(C.52:14-19.1), monitoringto andthe life-cycleLegislature risk1[,]1 scoringa models;final report on the pilot program.  At a minimum, the report submitted pursuant to this subsection shall include:        (1)  a cost-benefit analysis of the pilot program and the module;

and          (2)  (3)an recommendationsevaluation forof the permanenteffectiveness, adoptionreliability, and Statewidescalability expansion1[,]1 of theartificial pilotintelligence-powered program,bridge whichmonitoring expansion shall include applying the pilot program to additional infrastructure categories, which shall include, but not be limited to, roads, major culverts, and criticallife-cycle stormwaterrisk tunnels. scoring  models;      4.    The department shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

    and 5.         There(3)  isrecommendations appropriatedfor $9,500,000 from the Generalpermanent Fundadoption toand theStatewide departmentexpansion toof support both the pilot programprogram, andwhich theexpansion moduleshall establishedinclude pursuantapplying to section 2 of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislaturepilot asprogram this bill) to beadditional disbursedinfrastructure ascategories, follows: 1[which     shall a.   include] $4,500,000including1, tobut thenot departmentbe tolimited supportto, theroads, pilotmajor programculverts, inand acquiringcritical inventory,stormwater tools,tunnels. and software;

       4.    The department shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

     5.    There is appropriated $9,500,000 from the General Fund to the department to support both the pilot program and the module established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to be disbursed as follows:       a.     $4,500,000 to the department to support the pilot program in acquiring inventory, tools, and software;

of section 2 of P.L.    ,P.L.    , c.    (pending c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to fund artificial intelligence research and data integration and to acquire necessary sensors and monitoring hardware.         6.    This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon submission of the final report required pursuant to subsection b.

of section 3 of P.L.    , c.    (pending before the Legislature as this bill). bill).       STATEMENT        This bill requires the Department of Transportation (department) to establish the “Bridge Transportation Asset Management Plan Pilot Program” (pilot program) to inventory, assess, and make recommendations concerning the status of State, county, and municipal bridges.       The commissioner of the department is required to collaborate with State agencies, county and municipal engineers, Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Stevens Institute of Technology to develop:  (1) a digital inventory of every State, county, and municipal bridge in the State;

(2) a bridge life-cycle risk scoring model to evaluate potential risks associated with each bridge;

(3) a climate vulnerability assessment for each bridge;

and (4) a public-facing performance dashboard accessible through the department’s Internet website.       As part of the pilot program, the department is required to establish the “Bridge Infrastructure Innovation Module” (module) to test the use of artificial intelligence-powered data analysis and sensor-based condition monitoring on high-risk and high-traffic bridges, as determined by the department.  To effectuate this, the department is to coordinate with Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Stevens Institute of Technology on research, artificial intelligence modeling, and predictive analytics.  The findings of the module are to then be applied to the pilot program to enhance bridge life-cycle risk scoring models and assessment accuracy and emergency response planning.

 The bill requires the department to seek federal matching funds to support the pilot program.       In the first four years of the pilot program, the department is required to submit annual reports containing certain information to the Governor and the Legislature on the implementation and performance of the pilot program and module.  In the fifth and final year of the pilot program, the department is required to submit a final report on the pilot program.  In part, the final report is to recommend whether the pilot program should be adopted and expanded Statewide.       The bill appropriates $9.5 million from the General Fund to the department to support both the pilot program and the module.       The sponsor intends to recognize the urgency of New Jersey’s aging infrastructure by introducing legislation to establish this pilot program, which represents a transformative shift toward data-driven, lifecycle-based planning that prioritizes safety, resiliency, and long-term cost efficiency.