Definition and Measurement of Transportation System Performance

Performance measures are needed to inform decisions regarding the overall level of resources to devote to transportation, where to allocate these resources, and how best to use them. The first two types of decision require regular monitoring of the system to reveal problems, which present opportunities for improvement. A few, easily measured indicators of the major benefits and costs of the system are appropriate for this task. For the third type of decision, how to best address a specific problem, a more comprehensive set of benefits and costs must be considered. Indicators must be found for those benefits and costs that would be impacted by alternative means of addressing the problem, so that the overall impacts of the alternatives can be compared. This report discusses the benefits and costs of transportation and recommends specific measures to use as indicators of the benefits and costs, as well as data sources and methods of measurement. It discusses the role of intelligent transportation systems as both an object of measurement and a means of measurement