Performance Measures
Performance Measures Overview
Through the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and previously funded infrastructure acts, the federal government has established rules and regulations for federal planning and project/program award. Performance-based planning, fiscal constraints, and public involvement are part of AAMPO’s planning efforts. Performance management strives to assist decision-makers to advance projects that provide a safe and reliable network based on need and quantitative measures. The approach uses current system information and data to make investment and policy decisions to achieve performance goals.
AAMPO adopted performance measures, are safety, pavement and bridge condition, roadway system performance (including Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality), and transit asset management. Additional performance measures may be added as new IIJA guidance is provided. Current performance is established through traffic counts, crash data, and the region’s Travel Demand Model. This information is used to predict and provide criteria for future project selection. The goal is to utilize metrics that provide for consistent criteria and accountability for project selection and funding awards in the future.
National Planning Goals
Seven national goals were established to address safety, current infrastructure, traffic congestion, efficiency, environment, transportation delays, and project delivery delays:
- Safety - To achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.
- Infrastructure Condition - To maintain the highway infrastructure asset system in a state of good repair.
- Congestion Reduction - To achieve a significant reduction in congestion on the National Highway System (NHS).
- System Reliability - To improve the efficiency of the surface transportation system.
- Freight Movement and Economic Vitality - To improve the national freight network, strengthen the ability of rural communities to access national and international trade markets, and support regional economic development.
- Environmental Sustainability - To enhance the performance of the transportation system while protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
- Reduced Project Delivery Delays - To reduce project costs, promote jobs and the economy, and expedite the movement of people and goods by accelerating project completion through eliminating delays in the project development and delivery process, including reducing regulatory burdens and improving agencies' work practices.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
In 2012, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) was passed by Congress, mandating all Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to develop a performance-based transportation planning and programming approach. The requirements for a performance-based approach have been continued under the current transportation funding law, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021.
Performance-based planning allows MPOs and State DOTs to examine data, past and present, and evaluate the performance of their transportation investments against a number of federally required measures in order to make progress toward the achievement of national goals. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines transportation performance management as a strategic approach that uses system information to make investment and policy decisions to achieve national performance goals.
Alamo Area MPO's Role
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have established a set of rulemakings for implementation of performance-based planning and programming (PBPP). Each rulemaking pertains to a particular area of transportation, and lays out the goals, measures, and data to be used in setting targets. Under the PBPP process, states, transit providers, and MPOs must link investment priorities to the achievement of performance targets.
With the exception of performance measures related to traffic congestion, MPO’s have the option to adopt their own performance target(s) or support the state's/transit provider's target(s). For performance measures related to traffic congestion, States and MPOs must collectively establish 2-year and 4-year targets. The Alamo Area MPO is coordinating with regional, state, and federal partners to establish performance measure targets for the AAMPO Planning Area. To view the current and previous targets, please review resolutions under each respective Performance Measure webpage. The table below identifies the most recent adoption date for each of the Performance Measures Targets.
| Final Rule | Performance Measure (by Category) |
Target Adoption Date | Signed Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|
| PM 1 | Safety | Jananuary 23, 2023 | View Document |
| PM 2 | Pavement Condition | Jananuary 25, 2021 | View Document |
| Bridge Condition | Jananuary 25, 2021 | ||
| PM 3 | Travel Time Reliability | Jananuary 25, 2021 | View Document |
| Freight Reliability | Jananuary 25, 2021 | ||
Performance Measure 1 - Safety
Safety is rightfully the first area of performance management. Everyone should have the right to get to their destination safely, regardless of whether they are driving, riding a bus, bicycling or walking. On January 22, 2018, January 28, 2019, and January 27, 2020, the MPO’s Transportation Policy Board (TPB) adopted TxDOT’s statewide Safety targets. Additionally, in 2020, the TPB resolved to support TxDOT’s visionary goals to end traffic fatalities on Texas roads by year 2050 and reduce fatal crashes by half by year 2035. To achieve these targets, MPOs across the state, TxDOT, and local governments must work for safer outcomes through design, education, law enforcement, emergency response and evaluation of programs and projects. The MPO revisits targets annually.
The IIJA Act continues the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads and roads on tribal lands. The HSIP requires a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads that focuses on performance.
State DOTs and MPOs are expected to establish and report Safety performance measure targets annually.
For each of the below five performance measures, MPOs can agree to support the State DOT target, or establish their own target specific to the MPO planning area:
- Total number of traffic related fatalities on all public roads
- Rate of traffic related fatalities on all public roads per 100 million VMT
- Total number of traffic related serious injuries on all public roads
- Rate of traffic related serious injuries on all public roads per 100 million VMT
- Total number of non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads
On TBD, the Transportation Policy Board (TPB) of the Alamo Area MPO approved a resolution to support the update to the 4-year target (previously adopted November 19, 2020) for both Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Alamo Area MPO (AAMPO) which are shown in the table below:
| TxDOT | AAMPO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety Performance Measures |
Baseline (2022) | Target (2023) | Baseline (2022) | Target (2023) |
| Number of Fatalities | 4,124 | 3,682 | 276 | 322 |
| Fatality Rate | 1.45 | 1.38 | 1.25 | 1.62 |
| No. of Serious Injuries | 17,740 | 17,062 | 1,093 | 1,518 |
| Serious Injury Rate | 6.22 | 6.39 | 4.95 | 6.99 |
| No. of Non-Motorized Fatalities and Serious Injuries | 2,551 | 2,357 | 150 | 348 |
By agreeing to support the states’ HSIP targets, the Alamo Area MPO agrees to:
- Work with the states and safety stakeholders to address areas of concern for fatalities or serious injuries within the metropolitan planning area
- Coordinate with the states and include the safety performance measures and the states’ HSIP targets for those measures in the long-range regional transportation plan (RTP)
- Integrate into the metropolitan transportation planning process, the safety goals, objectives, performance measures and targets described in other state safety transportation plans and processes such as applicable portions of the HSIP, including the SHSP
- Include a description in the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) of the anticipated effect of the TIP toward achieving HSIP targets in the RTP, linking investment priorities in the TIP to those safety targets
Sources: Fatalities (2010-2018): Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2014-2017 Final and FARS 2018 ARF; Fatalities (2019) and Serious Injuries (2010-2019): reportable data collected from Texas Peace Officers Crash Report (CR-3) received and processed by the MPO as of 1/21/2020; Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT): TxDOT and MPO Travel Demand Models
Additional Resources
- AAMPO PM1 Resolution
- AAMPO Safety Performance Measures: 2023 Target Setting Presentation
- A Resolution Adopting the Safety Targets Established by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for Year 2023
- Texas Strategic Highway Safety Plan 2022 - 2027
- FY 2023 Highway Safety Plan
- AAMPO Safety Performance Measures: 2023 Target Setting Presentation
Performance Measure 2 - Infrastructure
The National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) provides support for the condition and performance of the National Highway System (NHS), for the construction of new facilities, and to ensure that investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction are directed to support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in a State's asset management plan for the NHS.
The National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) provides support for the condition and performance of the National Highway System (NHS), for the construction of new facilities, and to ensure that investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction are directed to support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in a State's asset management plan for the NHS.
The MPO’s Transportation Policy Board (TPB) approved targets for Pavement and Bridge Condition on December 10, 2018. Targets are revisited every two years
Pavement Condition
For each of the below performance measures MPOs can agree to support the State DOT Target or establish their own target specific to the MPO planning area:
- Percentage of pavements on the Interstate System in Good condition
- Percentage of pavements on the Interstate System in Poor condition
- Percentage of the non-interstate National Highway System in Good condition
- Percentage of the non-interstate National Highway System in Poor condition
Every structure that is at least 20 feet long with vehicles traveling over or under it is subject to National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) and must be inspected at least every two years. Bridges are rated on a scale from 1-9 on various bridge elements, including the deck, substructure, superstructure, and culverts. To be considered in "good" condition, each bridge element must be rated a "7" or higher. Structures with any element receiving a rating of "4" or lower receives a "poor" rating.
| Pavement Condition Performance Measures | Baseline (2020) | 4-Year Target (2021) |
|---|---|---|
| Percent of Pavement in Good Condition (Interstate) | 24.4% | 66.5% |
| Percent of Pavement in Poor Condition (Interstate) | 0% | .2% |
| Percent of Pavement in Good Condition (Non-Interstate NHS) | 26.7% | 54.1% |
| Percent of Pavement in Poor Condition (Non-Interstate NHS) | 11.7% | 14.2% |
Bridge Condition
For each of the below performance measures MPOs can agree to support the State DOT Target or establish their own target specific to the MPO planning area:
- Percentage of National Highway System bridges classified as in Good condition
- Percentage of National Highway System bridges classified as in Poor condition
| Bridge Condition Performance Measures | Baseline (2020) | 4-Year Target (2021) |
|---|---|---|
| Percent of Bridges by Deck Area in Good Condition | 53.0% | 50.42% |
| Percent of Bridges by Deck Area in Poor Condition | .1% | 1.50% |
By agreeing to support the TxDOT's Infrastructure Condition targets, the Alamo Area MPO agrees to:
- Work with the states and relevant stakeholders to address areas of concern for pavement and bridge condition within the metropolitan planning area
- Coordinate with the states and include the infrastructure condition targets for those measures in the long-range regional transportation plan (RTP)
- Integrate into the metropolitan transportation planning process, the infrastructure goals, objectives, performance measures and targets described in other state transportation plans and processes
- Include a description in the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) of the anticipated effect of the TIP toward achieving pavement and bridge condition targets in the RTP, linking investment priorities in the TIP to those infrastructure condition targets
Additional Resources
Perfomance Measure 3 - System Performance
The MPO’s Transportation Policy Board (TPB) approved targets for System Performance on December 10, 2018. Targets are revisited every two years.
Travel Time Reliability
People who drive are used to some level of traffic, known as congestion, and plan for some delay, particularly during rush hour. Drivers might their schedules or budget extra time to allow for traffic delays. But what happens when traffic delays are much worse than expected? When a crash on the roadway or poor weather slows you down, your normal travel time of 20 minutes could jump to 45 minutes. We are much less tolerant of unexpected delays because they can cause us to be late for work, miss appointments, or incur extra childcare fees. Travel time reliability measures the extent of this unexpected delay. Think about travel time reliability as the consistency your travel time day-to-day and/or across different times of the day.
Truck Travel Time
Truck Travel Time Reliability (TTTR) Index is the metric used to assess the movement of trucks on the Interstate system. As with Travel Time Reliability, it is an attempt to measure the consistency or dependability in travel times for trucks on the Interstate.
| System Performance Measures | Baseline | Target (2022) |
|---|---|---|
| Interstate Reliability | 80.1% | 65% |
| Non Interstate National Highway System Reliability | 74.1% | 45% |
| Truck Travel Time Reliability Index | 1.66 | 2.20 |
| Total Emission Reduction | Baseline (2020-2021) | 2-Year Target (2023) | 4-Year Target (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Emissions Reductions (NOX) KG/DAY | 121.583 | 127.750 | 219.130 |
| Total Emissions Reductions (VOC) KG/DAY | 25.435 | 53.970 | 92.576 |
Additional Resources:
Transit Asset Management
| Transit Asset Management - Reviewed Every Year (2022) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Equipment - % non-revenue vehicles that have either met or exceeded useful life benchmark | - | |
| Automobiles | 44% | |
| Trucks and other rubber tire vehicles | 36% | |
| Rolling Stock - % revenue-generating vehicles that have either met or exceeded useful life benchmark | - | |
| Articulated Bus | 0% | |
| Bus | 4% | |
| Paratransit Vans/Cutaways | 0% | |
| Passenger Rail Infrastructure | N/A | |
| Facilities - % rated below adequate condition on the Transit Economics Requirements Model (TERM) analysis scale | ||
| Administrative | 0% | |
| Maintenance | 0% | |
| Passenger/Parking | 0% | |
Reports
Urbanized Area Performance Dashboard and Reports
The Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has developed State Performance Dashboard and Reports where visitors can find the latest available baseline values and performance targets for each State Department of Transportation (DOT) and Urbanized Area.
The Dashboard provides an easy-to-use interface for visitors to learn about each performance measure area and the process each State DOT undertook in setting and establishing applicable baselines and targets. This central and standard platform enables users to quickly compare performance on multiple transportation performance measures.
The information displayed is for informational purposes only and is provided by each State DOT and has not been edited by FHWA. There may be some discrepancies among published State DOT data due to data sources and reporting timeframes used when establishing the performance targets. Any questions about individual State reports should be directed to the respective State DOT.