Project-Level Measures

Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Cooperative Highway Research Program

The CSS principles have their roots in the delivery of individual projects. Furthermore, measurement can initially be piloted on a small subset of projects. Project-level measures provide valuable feedback to stakeholders and project team members.

This is a starting point for developing measurement techniques to assess how well individual projects reflect CSS principles. As agencies become comfortable with CSS measurement and implement CSS more widely, cumulative analysis of results from many individual projects can provide helpful insight on organization wide performance. Areas of focus are described where measurement is both desirable and feasible, and some suggestions for specific measures are provided. Some measures may work on all projects, others may be adapted depending on the project under review, and some may only apply to a few projects.

Project-Level Measures: Key Characteristics

Used to assess performance of individual projects;
Address both processes and outcomes;
Work for one or many projects;
Rely on collaborative, self-assessment by project team and stakeholders;
Vital resource for project leaders/teams;
Process measures applicable at key project milestones;
Outcome measures appropriate at project.

Source: NCHRP Document 69: Performance Measures for Context Sensitive Solutions – A Guidebook for State DOTs

Published: October 2004