Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS)

HPMS Reassessment 2010+

Final Report

Prepared by:

Office of Highway Policy Information
Federal Highway Administration

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Background
  • 2.1 Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS)
  • 2.2 Reassessment
  • 2.3 Uses of HPMS Data
• 3.0 Stakeholder Input
  • 3.1 Description of Input Process
  • 3.2 Summary of Input
• 4.0 Data Changes
  • 4.1 Structure of HPMS
  • 4.2 Data Items
  • 4.3 Data Quality and Process Improvement
  • 4.4 Summary of Data Changes
  • 4.5 HPMS Data Overview
  • 4.6 Sample Data
• 5.0 Impacts of Reassessment
  • 5.1 Overview
  • 5.2 Analysis of HPMS Items Recommended for Change
  • 5.3 HPMS Items Recommended for Addition
  • 5.4 Funding The Changes to HPMS
• 6.0 Next Steps
• Appendix A: Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Appendix B: Definitions
• Appendix C: Regional Workshop Summary
• Appendix D: Issue Papers
• Pavement-Related Data Issues
• Freight Related Data Issues
• Capacity Related Data Issues for HPMS Reassessment
• Boundaries and Functional Classification
• Process Improvement Background Paper
• Data Quality Background Paper
• New Data Model
• Sampling Background Issue Paper

Executive Summary

Since late 2005, The Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) has undergone a Reassessment to ensure it best meets the needs of its users and customers in 2010 and beyond. The Reassessment was intended to respond to current and future business needs, address any new data needs in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA—LU) legislation, capitalize on changing technology and where possible address resource constraints and institutional changes.

Purpose of the HPMS Final Report

This report summarizes the changes to HPMS. The goals of this report are to:

• Indicate a picture of HPMS in 2010;
• Summarize data additions, deletions, and changes;
• Explain why these data are needed and how they will be used;
• Address questions and concerns raised by States and others in response to the issuance of the draft Recommendations Report in January 2007; and
• Quantify the impact and subsequent cost of the HPMS changes.

This report is one of three documents describing the Reassessment and the subsequent changes to HPMS.

Other Related HPMS Reassessment 2010+ Documents

The HPMS Data Specifications document describes in detail where HPMS data are required; the frequency of data collection; data collection and reporting standards; and, any applicable metadata.

The HPMS Field Manual describes in detail the collection and reporting requirements; provides descriptions and examples for the data items; and provides more detail on internal processes such as the sample adequacy procedures and the determination of sampling confidence intervals.

HPMS Reassessment Timeline

From the inception of the Reassessment, FHWA undertook a very open, interactive approach. Major emphasis has been directed towards determining the data needs of FHWA’s partners, stakeholders, and customers, as well as the various uses of the existing HPMS, as well as the ability of data providers to support these data needs.

HPMS 2010+ has been refined to eliminate some no longer needed data items; include new ones to ensure that appropriate needs especially in the pavement area, can be adequately addressed; and feature a geographic data model that allows for more efficient reporting of HPMS for both data collectors and users.

The HPMS changes can be classified into three broad categories: structure, data items, and data quality/process improvement. The following summarizes the recommended changes:

• Federal Needs: The Federal needs for HPMS require that a number of items be changed and additional items be added.
  • — Pavement: Critical information on pavement conditions is being added so the National assessment of pavement condition will be more comprehensive and more analogous to the pavement condition analyses performed by state and regional agencies. This will give Congress and the highway community a more thorough representation of the condition of the Nation’s highways.
  • — Legislation: SAFETEA—LU requires an extensive evaluation of safety data needs to meet the new Safety requirements in the legislation. The new safety data needs will be developed cooperatively with HPMS to assure consistency.
  • — EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality Conformity regulations specify that HPMS estimates of VMT shall be considered as the primary measure of VMT within the nonattainment or maintenance area where Conformity must be determined. [40 CFR 93.122 (b)(3)]
• New Data Model: A new data model has been developed for the structure of HPMS which will allow for geographic locating, analysis, comparison, and reporting of data.
• Data reporting schedule: The only change to take affect before 2010 is the reporting of motorcycle travel data, which are to be implemented immediately for reporting in June 2008. Except for functional class and a few phased data items, reporting of the remaining data items are mandatory in June 2010. Functional class changes can begin immediately, but will not be mandatory until June 2013.
• Interchanges & ramps: Of the data pertaining to interchanges and ramps. FHWA will collect the three data items for interchanges; States will be responsible for collecting the five data items for ramps.

While the total number of data items in HPMS are essentially the same, the number of data items that States will need to report for each section has decreased. In the new HPMS, the software will calculate 23 data items compared to 11 in the current software. Furthermore, FHWA will provide 6 data items, where previously it didn’t provide any. The following table shows the distribution of data items in the current and new HPMS.

The revision of this document in 2007 and 2008 parallels the efforts to revise the HPMS Field Manual and the Highway Functional Classification: Concepts, Criteria, and Procedures documents, and the new HPMS Data Specifications document. Both the Data Specifications and Field Manual were released as draft documents in February and March 2008, respectively.

The “final” Data Specifications is expected in September 2008. The HPMS Data Specifications will be a dynamic document that continually changes with HPMS.

The revision of the HPMS Field Manual began in earnest in December 2007. This has been a cooperative effort between the Office of Highway Policy Information, FHWA, a number of State DOTs, and several FHWA Division Offices. The draft version of the document released in March 2008 will be replaced by a final draft in the fall of 2008 and ultimately the final version in December 2008.

1.0 Introduction

The availability of accurate, representative national transportation data is critical to informing decisions across all levels of transportation agencies. The Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is a key national transportation data program that provides highway inventory, condition, performance, and operating characteristics data to national, state, and regional customers. Examples of the type of data available through HPMS include pavement condition and travel by vehicle type. It is used at the national level for apportionment, performance measures, highway statistics, and conditions reporting.

The goal of the HPMS Reassessment has been to ensure it best meets the needs of its users and customers in 2010 and beyond. The Reassessment was intended to respond to current and future business needs, address new data needs in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA—LU) legislation, capitalize on changing technology and, where possible, address resource constraints and institutional changes.

The Reassessment process began in late 2005 and will conclude with the release of this report in the fall of 2008. Critical to the success of the Reassessment has been the ongoing communication and coordination with both HPMS users and State data collectors. The outreach conducted has been extensive and resulted in an evolutionary development of recommendations related to proposed changes to the HPMS database and process.

This report summarizes the Reassessment changes and is organized as follows:

• Background of HPMS — This section contains a brief history of HPMS, describes the mission and goals, and highlights the contents and use of the database. It also refers to previous Reassessments and highlights the purpose of this Reassessment.
• Stakeholder Input — This section documents the meetings and outreach that have occurred. Comments and concerns in response to the draft report are addressed throughout this report.
• Data Changes — Early in the Reassessment, ten detailed Issue papers were written, which were then revised and summarized in the January 2007 draft of this report. This section summarizes the data changes.
• Impacts of the Reassessment — This section describes the potential impacts of the Reassessment. Direct impacts resulting from data collection changes, when provided by States, are summarized and used to provide an estimate of the cost to States to implement these changes.
• Next Steps — This section describes the remaining HPMS efforts that have already begun, in response to the Reassessment changes, and will continue through the submittal of the new, revised and dropped HPMS data items starting in June 2010.