State freight plans vary significantly in how performance measures are addressed. Nevada’s State Freight Plan is notable for connecting and communicating the relationship of the plan’s goals, objectives, performance measures, and targets.

The goals and objectives of the plan are clearly linked to performance measures in a concise table. The performance measure(s) associated with each goal and objective includes: a baseline or current condition, a target providing guidance for future actions, and a score indicating whether the performance measure established can or will be met. An analysis section is provided for each performance measure allowing for additional background information or explanation of trends.

As key projects within Nevada’s State Freight Plan take several years to be implemented or constructed, the performance measures within the plan are not reported annually. However, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) will review progress on the State Freight Plan performance measures as a part of the plan’s five-year update providing a chance to reflect on progress made and impact of projects implemented.

Takeaways for other agencies:

• Goals and objectives are most impactful when tied with actionable items whether it is performance measures with targets or other clearly defined next steps.
• While performance measures tend to be quantitative in nature, consider how qualitative or proxy measures may also be used to demonstrate progress toward a goal or objective.
• A data-driven, target-setting approach can help with making investment and policy decisions.
• Projects take time to construct and implement. Annual performance measure monitoring may not be feasible for all metrics and states may want to consider different monitoring periods for different metrics.

View Nevada’s current state freight plan: https://www.dot.nv.gov/mobility/freight-planning/nevada-freight-plan

The active tracking and reporting of performance measures for the Virginia statewide multimodal transportation plan, VTrans is particularly notable for the way the performance measure tracking is being used to inform action. The Virginia state freight plan is an element of VTrans. The goals, objectives, and performance measures of VTrans capture a larger picture of transportation in the state. Within the state freight plan, linkages are drawn between the goals and objectives of the overall statewide multimodal transportation plan and the state freight plan element.

The performance measure tracking for VTrans is provided through a biennial report reviewing the progress of each performance measure describing what contributed to the change in the performance measure since it was last evaluated and, if needed, what new actions the state can take to improve performance going forward. The detail provided for each performance measure, such as trends, policy or operational changes, and projects completed or underway, informs and communicates a deeper understanding of why a performance increased or decreased and how current investments or planned actions will help contribute toward progress on a performance measure target. The value of periodic reflection on progress is helping Virginia make informed data-driven investment and policy decisions toward achieving their transportation goals.

Takeaways for other agencies:

• Tracking and reporting performance measures on a periodic basis creates accountability and provides the feedback needed to make program adjustments toward achieving goals.
• Established performance measures should have the ability to be measured either qualitatively or quantitatively to assess progress.
• Freight-related performance measures can be tracked as a part of a larger agency-wide performance management reporting system.

Learn more about VTrans performance measures and biennial reporting: http://oipi.virginia.gov/programs/performance-measures/default.asp

The Texas Truck Congestion Analysis Tool (TCAT) is a planning tool developed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Texas A&M Transportation Institute to provide users with access to roadway performance data in an interactive web interface. The main focus of the tool is truck congestion statistics (e.g., delay per mile, Texas Congestion Index, Planning Time Index, etc.) for individual roadways available by TxDOT district, county, Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), region, or corridor. Providing data at different geographic levels enables each of the respective agencies to immediately see what their role is in the larger statewide freight system in a data-driven way.

To identify important regional and statewide freight trends TxDOT provides access to additional data points such as Texas’ 100 most congested roads, geographic boundaries, planned Unified Transportation (UTP) projects, truck trip generators (e.g., energy sector, border crossings, distribution centers, and truck parking), and freight infrastructure (e.g., ports, intermodal facilities, and airports) that can be added to the interactive web map to enhance the context of roadway data being viewed.

As a planning tool, TCAT can be used to estimate impacts that projects may have on the road network by viewing congestion statistics in subsequent years after a project is completed. Additionally the data, such as Texas’ 100 most congested roads, can be used to inform or support proposed projects. As a public facing web-based platform, TCAT provides easily accessible authoritative data at the fingertips of users within the department, among partners, and the public at large for making data-driven decisions.

Takeaways for other agencies:

• Providing centralized data enable partners to carry out your state freight plan by providing tools and customized query capabilities to understand changes and trends within the freight network.
• Centralized statewide congestion data available at various geographic levels can be a “go-to” data reporting resource for MPOs or local government with limited staff.
• A web-based platform used for data dissemination can be utilized as a formal or ad hoc system for performance monitoring.

Explore TCAT: https://tcatwebprod.z14.web.core.windows.net/