Conditions and Performance Chapter Listing

Conditions and Performance Home Page

Introduction

Summary

Road Conditions

Bridge Conditions

Transit System Conditions

Introduction

The surface transportation system consists of a highway component and transit component. The condition of these two components is addressed in this chapter. The highway system assessment includes the status of roads and bridges. The transit system condition is based on the status of transit vehicles and facilities. Each element presented influences the overall condition of our transportation system. The data in this chapter will not only provide an evaluation of the transportation system, but can also help identify the future rehabilitation and replacement needs.

This chapter begins with a summary table comparing key highway and transit statistics with the values shown in the last report. This table is followed by a summary of the key points addressed in more depth later in the chapter.

The road conditions section of this chapter reviews pavement condition, alignment adequacy and lane widths. The pavement condition segment describes the measurement used, presents the overall pavement condition, and breaks down pavement conditions by location (rural/urban) and functional system. The alignment segment explains horizontal and vertical alignment, presents the rating system and evaluates the alignment adequacy in rural areas by functional system. The lane width segment describes current Interstate lane width requirements and presents lane widths by location and functional system. Where possible historical trends are illustrated.

The section of this chapter dealing with bridges includes bridge ratings and number of deficient bridges. Next, the number of deficient bridges is broken down by jurisdiction, location and functional system. The section concludes with a historical view of bridges on Interstates, other arterials, collectors and local functional systems.

The transit conditions section begins with a brief discussion of how transit conditions are measured; a more detailed discussion of the methodology is found in Appendix I. The section is broken down into three segments: urban bus conditions, rail conditions, and rural and specialized transit conditions. In the bus segment, information on the condition of bus vehicles is presented for different types of buses. Urban bus maintenance facility ages and conditions are also shown. In the rail segment, conditions for different types of vehicles are presented, followed by the conditions of different types of rail infrastructure. The rural and specialized transit segment contains information that is carried over from the previous report.

The data sources for the condition analysis include the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), the Nationwide Personal Travel Survey (NPTS), the National Bridge Inventory (NBI), the Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM), the National Transit Database (NTD), the National Bus Condition Assessment (NBCA), and data provided by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA). The NBI covers all bridges on public roads and is collected biannually.