Asset Management and Management of Highway Performance (Peer Exchange)
4.0 Next Steps
Throughout the peer exchange, participants identified and discussed a number of unknowns, unresolved issues, and barriers related to the implementation of performance-based transportation programs. However, they also recognized the significant benefits of performance management and identified several practical ideas for moving forward. They also recommended that the findings from the peer exchange documented above be incorporated into the following ongoing efforts:
- Subsequent work by the SCOPM tasks forces on finalizing recommended measures and national goals;
- FHWA's research effort on Performance-Based Management of Federal-Aid Highway Programs; and
- Planning for the "Executive Roundtable for Performance-Based Planning and Programming," which occurred on October 23, 2009 as part of the AASHTO 2009 Annual Meeting.
Finally, the participants strongly recommended that an initial set of targeted, national performance measures be finalized as soon as possible. Once this step is complete, the discussions can shift fully to how the measures will be used within a performance management framework. In planning for subsequent exchanges on this topic, organizers should be aware of the natural tendency for the discussions to shift towards the difficulties and potentially significant institutional changes involved in implementing a national performance-based transportation program. Performance measures are the foundation for performance management. By focusing first on specific measures, agencies can begin to make real progress without waiting for all the issues regarding the use of the measures to be resolved.
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