Approaches for Communicating Third Performance Management Rule Measures, Metrics, and Targets

Executive Summary

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has established performance measures in three rules under its Transportation Performance Management program. The third performance management rule, or PM3, focuses on system performance, freight movement, and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ). Many of the PM3 measures are new to agencies. As such, agencies may have less experience reporting the measures and explaining them to less technical stakeholders within their organizations. This report will discuss principles of good communication, as well as case studies, for presenting PM3 measures, metrics, and targets, beginning with a brief discussion of findings from a literature review and case study interviews.

State departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) could be most effective and engaging in communicating PM3 measures if they identify an audience, select or tailor messages that will be compelling for that audience, and make effective use of both written (e.g., fact sheets) and visual (e.g., graphics) communication tools with simple and recognizable visual cues, as well as local references as appropriate.

This report provides detailed discussions of how each category of measures and metrics can be communicated (including conceptual visualizations) and provides examples from MPOs and State DOTs as references for practitioners.