Document Library

First, it examines asset management as a framework for demonstrating accountability - both in the short- term management of current transportation programs but also for the long-term sustainability of a state highway network. Second, this report examines successful organizational structures and leadership strategies for instilling Asset Management into transportation agencies. Third, this report examines case studies of successful Asset Management programs across the United States and internationally.

The Guidebook produced by this research will provide step-by-step guidance to transportation agencies, e.g. DOTs, on how to select superior performance targets to achieve objectives for the highway and other modal systems; criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of performance measurement systems, and documentation on the best practices, analytical tools and data available for setting effective performance targets. The product will help agencies to systematically review existing performance targets that have been set by historical practice in order to determine whether superior targets can be adopted to increase customer satisfaction while reducing costs.

The purpose of these efforts is to identify states that have achieved exemplary performance, find out what practices have contributed to their success, and document these practices for the benefit of other states. This effort focuses on bridge condition.

This report provides a comparison of urban transportation performance in 51 major metropolitan areas throughout the United States. The authors compare their data on travel time, trip distance, and overall congestion with the findings presented in the 2010 Urban Mobility Report published by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). This report describes the limitations of the travel time index and TTI’s overall methodology for evaluating congestion in urban areas. It goes on to illustrate the state of congestion in metro areas, comparing cities using different measures (e.g. total hours of delay and total hours of peak travel time) and creating a series of charts and graphs that demonstrate their findings.

This report describes methods that managers of state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies can use for setting performance targets to achieve multiple objectives and interact with multiple decision-makers and stakeholder groups, and how data management systems within a DOT can support performance-based decision-making. Transportation agencies at all levels of government are embracing performance measurement to improve agency efficiency and accountability. Setting performance targets, a crucial step in the management process, generally entails balancing among competing objectives and dealing with political implications. Unless the bases for setting those targets are sound and defensible and key decision makers and stakeholders concur, the effectiveness of performance-based management is likely to be compromised. This report presents a framework and specific guidance for target-setting and for ensuring that appropriate data are available to support performance management. The report draws on a range of private- and public-sector examples to explore issues of data management and stewardship as well as organizational factors likely to influence an agency's performance measurement and management experience. Supplementing the report, NCHRP Web-Only Document 154, available on the TRB website, presents case studies of organizations investigated in the research. The information will be useful to senior agency managers seeking to develop and improve their performance-management practices.

Case Study: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) 2010

Case study of DART's transit asset management program

This page contains links to the 2010 SGR Roundtable. On July 21-23, 2010, the Federal Transit Administration held its Second State of Good Repair (SGR) Roundtable hosted by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) with representatives from 40 transit agencies from around the United States in Chicago, IL. FTA Deputy Administrator Therese W. McMillan was a featured speaker.

Overview of Recently completed SGR related research projects, presented at the 2nd State of Good Repair Roundtable

A national forum on performance-based planning and programming was held in Dallas, Texas on September 13-15, 2010. The forum was organized by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO), the American Public Transit Association (APTA), and the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) with support from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Participants in the forum were equally divided among state departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and transit operators with a number of representatives from rural planning agencies as well. The forum sponsors readily agreed that the objective of a performance-based planning and programming process is to provide the guidance required for resource allocation decisions that deliver the best system performance results possible given performance goals and objectives and the resources available. However, they recognized that perspectives on performance-based planning and programming, both within and across different types of agencies, would vary. Taking this variance into account, the overall intent of the forum was to define practical approaches to performance-based resource allocation. Performance-based resource allocation should occur within an agency’s planning and programming process. Long-range planning helps to define key goals and objectives and to analyze and evaluate strategies and scenarios for meeting goals. It is a logical place to connect performance measures to goals and objectives and to define intended performance results. Long-range plans also provide broad guidance to resource allocation decisions. The programming and budgeting process then provides an opportunity to directly link goals and performance measures from long-range planning to specific programs, projects, and operations. However, it was noted that even though performance-based approaches can improve accountability and the use of resources, performance based planning and programming is not a panacea. Without adequate and predictable funding levels, system performance will degrade.

Potential Concepts for a Proposed FTA SGR program, Asset Management Strategy

In order to fulfill the recommendations of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning bridge management in 2009, a questionnaire was developed to help FHWA identify agencies needing assistance in implementing an effective bridge management system. This report details FHWA's process for developing the questionnaire, and otherwise fulfilling the OIG's recommendations.