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Transportation agencies at the federal, state, regional, and local levels all face challenges to invest in transportation projects and programs that make the most of limited resources. In a time of constrained budgets, transportation agencies often are asked to do more with less, and to do so under greater scrutiny from the public and a wide range of stakeholders. These agencies are in need of tools to help decision makers identify the programs and projects that best meet the goals identified for the agency.
Performance measures provide concrete information that decision makers as well as the public and stakeholder groups can use to help make these difficult decisions. When built into the planning process, performance measures link an agency’s goals and objectives (such as improved safety or mobility) to measures that capture the expected improvements of transportation investments. Performance measures also can identify the trade-offs among agency goals or programs to help decision-makers and the public understand both the expected benefits and disadvantages that result from investing more heavily in one program over another.
Performance measures have applications in all areas of transportation, from the management of transportation capital assets, to planning and programming transportation projects, operating the system, and tracking the performance of all aspects of the transportation agency. These analyses are based on tools that agencies are familiar with, such as travel demand models, the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), and management systems for transportation assets such as pavement and bridges. Performance measures can be estimated for specific projects and entire transportation systems and can be applied to all transportation modes. Performance measures also can be applied to an agency’s internal functions, such as engineering and contracting, to improve program delivery and overall organizational effectiveness. By thinking about the transportation system in terms of performance, existing tools can be harnessed to generate useful statistics that can be easily understood by decision makers and the public.
Additional information on performance measurement is available on the following web sites:
TRB Performance Measurement Committee 
AASHTO Quality Information Center
AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Today
FHWA Performance Measurement Exchange Community of Practice
For more than 30 years, Cambridge Systematics has been developing performance measurement programs; developing data management, tools, and analysis to support the measures; and integrating the measures with transportation policy, planning, and programming processes. We have assisted a number of metropolitan areas and states with statewide and regional plans, including performance measurement applications.
Cambridge Systematics performed some of the earliest significant research on the topic, such as NCHRP Project 8-32: Multimodal Transportation: Development of a Performance-Based Planning Process. We continue to further the state-of-the-practice by leading several relevant and cutting edge NCHRP projects, including NCHRP Project 20-60: Performance Measures and Targets for Transportation Asset Management; NCHRP Project 3-68: Guide to Effective Freeway Performance Measurement; and NCHRP Project 7-15: Cost Effective Methods and Planning Procedures for Travel Time, Delay, and Reliability. More importantly, we have helped a large number of MPOs, state DOTs, transit operators, and other agencies to adapt and apply these practices to their own situation and thus improve their effectiveness and efficiency.
Our depth of experience is apparent in the work our nationally known experts are involved with: development, refinement, and application of mobility, safety, financial, infrastructure conditions, and customer service measures. We also are closely involved with current efforts to integrate transportation system planning and operations, and to develop intelligent transportation system (ITS) measures and data sources to help achieve this integration. Our understanding of performance measurement and its relationship to supporting decision making and resource allocation for transportation agencies is demonstrated through our continued delivery of innovative institutional and technical solutions.
You can learn more from some examples of our recent work:
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