Conference Proceedings 26 - Transportation Research Board

120 PERFORMANCE MEASURES TO IMPROVE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AND AGENCY OPERATIONS–Percentage of disadvantaged travelers with publictransportation alternatives for essential businessand personal travel.Given the national focus of this agency, it is not surprisingthat these measures are defined at a muchbroader scale than those discussed in the previouscases. The use of a survey for determining the role oftransportation in economic productivity is of interest.Minnesota DOT’s Business PlanningPerformance TargetsThe Minnesota DOT has been one of the nation’sleaders in developing performance measures targetedat the business of the agency. In the mid-1990s, MinnesotaDOT developed the concept of a ‘‘family ofmeasures’’ that reflected the range of impacts andoutcomes that are influenced by transportation systemperformance. These outcomes and example measuresinclude the following from Minnesota DOT in1998:• Time directness: A predictable travel time forlength of trip is maintained so that customer expectationsare met.–Number of freeway miles congested,–Average travel time and distance, and–Percentage of Minnesotans satisfied with triptime.• Safety: Incidents and crash rates are minimizedto Minnesota DOT’s current and potential ability toinfluence infrastructure, partnerships and education,full range of solutions, and driver behavior.–Motor vehicle crash rates and fatal crashes byroadway design,–Percentage of Minnesotans feeling safe whiledriving in work zones, and–Percentage of Minnesotans satisfied with thesafety of roadways.• Condition of infrastructure: An infrastructurethat meets customer expectations is maintained.–Pavement quality index,–Bridge structural rating, and–Bridge functional rating.• Access and basic levels of service: Services areprovided to meet personal travel and shipping needs.–Percentage of Minnesotans with satisfactorytransit options,–Posted bridges and bridge load carryingcapacity,–Miles of truck highway spring weight restrictions,and–Percentage of Minnesotans satisfied with travelinformation.• Environment: Minnesota DOT is a proactive, responsible,environmental steward.–Percentage of residential areas in incorporatedareas exposed to noise that exceeds standards,and–Number of wetland acres affected and replacedby Minnesota DOT.• Socioeconomics: Transportation investmentsyield the highest possible economic return to the region,tempered by an evaluation of community valuesand social impacts.–Total vehicle miles traveled and freight tonmiles,–Maintenance and construction expendituresper vehicle mile traveled, and–Percentage of highway funds going to construction.Additional measures have been proposed for inclusionin this family of measures, including the state’stransportation investment and spending as a percentageof the state’s gross state product and shipmentcost per mile by ton or value, mode, and majorcommodity.Senior management adopted target values formany of these system performance measures that relateto departmental strategic objectives. For example,a strategic objective that relates to the economichealth of the state could be to ensure that corridorsof statewide significance link the state’s regional tradecenters (measured by the miles of major highwaysbetween cities attaining a threshold average speed).Florida DOT’s Mobility MeasureFlorida DOT (2000) focused on ‘‘mobility’’ as the keysystem performance measure for ‘‘supporting investmentdecisions and policy analysis.’’ Mobility—defined as the ease with which people and goodsmove throughout the community, state, and world—is measured as the quantity of travel served, qualityof travel, accessibility, and use of transportation systems.Some example measures for each include thefollowing:• Quantity:–Person miles traveled,–Truck miles traveled,–Person trips, and–Ridership;