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Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance Management: Guide for Practitioners
N AT I O N A L C O O P E R AT I V E H I G H W AY R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M
NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 920

Management and Use
of Data for Transportation
Performance Management:
Guide for Practitioners
Frances D. Harrison
William Duke
Juliet Eldred
Spy Pond Partners, LLC
Arlington, MA
in association with
Michael Pack
Nikola Ivanov
MLP, LLC
College Park, MD
Joe Crosset
Larry Chan
High Street Consulting Group
Pittsburgh, PA
Subscriber Categories
Highways • Data and Information Technology
Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration
2019
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 920

RESEARCH PROGRAM
Systematic, well-designed, and implementable research is the most Project 08-108
effective way to solve many problems facing state departments of ISSN 2572-3766 (Print)
transportation (DOTs) administrators and engineers. Often, highway ISSN 2572-3774 (Online)
problems are of local or regional interest and can best be studied by ISBN 978-0-309-48074-1
state DOTs individually or in cooperation with their state universities Library of Congress Control Number 2019948893
and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transporta-
© 2019 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
tion results in increasingly complex problems of wide interest to high-
way authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated
program of cooperative research.
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tiated an objective national highway research program using modern written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously
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COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 920

Christopher J. Hedges, Director, Cooperative Research Programs
Lori L. Sundstrom, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs
Dianne S. Schwager, Senior Program Officer
Jarrel McAfee, Senior Program Assistant
Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications
Natalie Barnes, Associate Director of Publications
Heidi Willis, Editor
NCHRP PROJECT 08-108 PANEL

Field of Transportation Planning—Area of Forecasting
Cindy L. Owings-Hutchison, Maine DOT, Augusta, ME (Chair)
Imad S. Aleithawe, Waggoner Engineering, Inc., Jackson, MS
James M. “Jim” Appleton, Retired (formerly California DOT), Sacramento, CA
Michael Bruff, Capital Area MPO, Clayton, NC
Laurie L. Goudy, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore, MD
Jason Ray Junge, Minnesota DOT, Roseville, MN
Camille Kamga, City College of New York, New York, NY
Mario B. Rojas, IV, A&P Consulting Transportation Engineers, Miami, FL
Christopher J. Allen, FHWA Liaison
Matthew Hardy, AASHTO Liaison
Simon Randrianarivelo, Bureau of Transportation Statistics Liaison
Thomas Palmerlee, TRB Liaison

FOREWORD
By Dianne S. Schwager
Staff Officer
Transportation Research Board
Transportation Performance Management (TPM) is an established and maturing practice

at state and local transportation agencies. NCHRP Report 920 provides practical guidance
to transportation agencies to improve their use of data for performance management. It
will assist agencies in making visible progress in meeting their objectives—such as reducing
fatalities, improving asset condition, reducing congestion, or speeding project delivery.
Recent federal legislation has established requirements for agencies to set performance
targets and report on safety, pavement and bridge conditions, transit asset state of good
repair, system performance, freight, and mobile source emissions. These requirements have
resulted in increased visibility and attention to TPM and increased awareness of the impor-
tance of data within that process. Transportation agencies are recognizing that the value of
performance management goes far beyond meeting federal requirements. NCHRP Report
920 will assist agencies in making visible progress in meeting their objectives.
Many transportation agencies collect data but need to improve their capabilities to trans-
form available data into useful information. This requires deliberate effort at all stages of
the data life cycle, from specification through analysis, to make sure that data is of sufficient
quality and that it can be integrated, visualized, and used to provide insights. Having people
with the right skills and experience to carry out these activities is essential.
Under NCHRP Project 08-108, a research team led by Spy Pond Partners, LLC was asked
to prepare guidance to improve data utilization in support of transportation performance
management. The research team conducted a literature review and a series of interviews to
identify current transportation agency practices for managing data-supporting TPM. Based
on this practice review, they identified success factors and challenges related to efficient
and effective data utilization within the TPM processes. They created guidance organized
around six data life-cycle stages. The guidance includes a discussion of what is involved
in implementing each step and some of the critical choices to be made; a synthesis of key
points in the form of “Do’s and Don’ts”; checklists that can be used to assess agency capa-
bilities and identify opportunities for improvement; and illustrative examples.
While this guide draws many examples related to the federally defined TPM areas (safety,
pavement, bridge and system performance), it does not provide official guidance for MAP-21/
FAST Act target setting or reporting. It provides a framework for assessing current data
management practices and a source of ideas for practice improvement. Its purpose is to
promote practices that will enable agencies to go beyond meeting reporting requirements,
to get valuable insights from data that can be used to boost agency results.
The Guide for Practitioners is accompanied by a downloadable report, Developing
National Performance Management Data Strategies to Address Data Gaps, Standards, and
Quality: Final Research Report, available on the TRB website (www.trb.org) by searching
for “NCHRP Research Report 920.”


Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................1
Foundation..............................................................................................................................................12
Step 1: Specify & Define Data.............................................................................................................................................13
Step 2: Obtain Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 20
Reporting ................................................................................................................................................ 26
Step 3: Store & Manage Data............................................................................................................................................. 27
Step 4: Share Data................................................................................................................................................................ 38
Insight..................................................................................................................................................... 52
Step 5: Analyze & Use Data ............................................................................................................................................... 53
Step 6: Present & Communicate Data............................................................................................................................. 60
Cases ...................................................................................................................................................... 64
Case A: Arizona DOT Long-Range Plan Investment Trade-offs ........................................................................... 65
Case B: Caltrans State Highway System Management Plan .................................................................................... 72
Case C: Florida DOT Transportation Data Portal................................................................................................... 79
Case D: I-95 Corridor Coalition Probe Vehicle Data Procurement.................................................................... 85
Case E: Maryland State Highway Administration’s Incident After Action Reviews........................................... 90
Case F: MATOC Regional Operations Evaluation.....................................................................................................98
Case G: Creating a Team of Data Experts to Support TPM at the Mid-America Regional Council................................102
Case H: New Jersey DOT Project Assessment Reporting....................................................................................107
Case I: Ohio DOT Winter Performance Management ..........................................................................................115
Case J: Pennsylvania DOT's Statewide Transportation Operations Data Warehousing Business Plan ......121
Case K: Virginia DOT's Pavement Monitoring Program ........................................................................................127
Appendix A: Capabilities Checklists ..................................................................................................134


Introduction

Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance Management:

Why This Guide?

Transportation Performance Management (TPM) is an
TPM Defined
established and maturing practice at state and local
This guide uses the term “TPM”
transportation agencies. Recent federal legislation has to mean a process that involves
established requirements for agencies to set 1. Measuring current
transportation system
performance targets and report on safety, pavement performance,
and bridge conditions, transit asset state of good 2. Setting goals and targets for
performance improvement,
repair, system performance, freight, and air quality.
3. Allocating resources and
These requirements have resulted in increased visibility planning work to achieve the
and attention to TPM and increased awareness of the desired improvement, and
4. Monitoring results achieved
importance of data within that process. to adjust plans and programs
and update targets as
needed.
Transportation agencies are recognizing that the value
of performance management goes far beyond simply
meeting federal requirements—it provides a way to
make visible progress in meeting agency objectives Performance
Measurement:
such as reducing fatalities, improving asset condition,
Understanding current
eliminating bottlenecks, or speeding project delivery. performance and tracking
progress toward meeting
objectives.
Meanwhile, with the emergence of new collection
Performance Management:
technologies, data sources, and private-sector data
Using performance
product and service offerings, seismic shifts are measurements and other
occurring in the data landscape. These changes are information to drive decisions.
causing transportation agencies to re-examine their

approach to data management.
2 Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases

Introduction
Data are essential throughout the TPM process. Good quality

Target Audience
data allow agencies to understand current performance, assess risks, and
plan and prioritize improvement actions. Reliable data can be used to This guide is intended for
transportation agencies—state
pinpoint trouble spots, identify where to intervene, and illuminate where departments of transportation
investment is most beneficial. It helps agencies to maximize the (DOTs), Metropolitan Planning
effectiveness of available funding and staff resources, and it provides the Organizations (MPOs), or local
strong, credible foundation for decision making that is essential for agencies—seeking to improve
building and maintaining public trust. the efficiency and effectiveness of
how they collect and use data for
For many agencies, the problem is not a lack of data; it is a lack of TPM. It can be used to review
capability to transform available data into useful information. This and assess existing data-related
requires deliberate effort at all stages of the data life cycle, from activities.
The target audience includes
specification through analysis, to ensure that data are of sufficient quality
and that it can be integrated, visualized, and used to provide insights. • Staff with responsibility for
TPM and/or individual
Having people with the right skills and experience to carry out these performance areas (e.g.,
activities is essential. safety, pavement, mobility)
who are seeking ideas for
Careful attention to assessing data needs and implementation making effective use of data;
of proven data management practices can provide the • TPM staff seeking to gain a
foundation for a successful TPM process—helping agencies to make broader understanding of
wise transportation investments that save taxpayer dollars, reduce data sources and
congestion, encourage economic growth, improve the quality of life, and management methods;
• Managers seeking to
even save lives. Lack of skillful data management creates inefficiencies due communicate the importance
to duplicative effort and manual, error-prone processes. It also creates of data sharing and
risks ranging from failed data collection efforts to lack of progress on coordination to improving
improving performance. performance and
strengthening accountability;
Most transportation agencies are not starting from scratch with TPM; • Managers seeking materials to
they will have already established a set of transportation performance help change their agency
measures and data sources used for internal and external reporting. culture so that people see
data as an enterprise asset;
However, there are many scenarios that may cause an agency to seek and
ideas for improving performance measures and associated data programs: • Data analysts seeking to
understand the entire data
• Current data are not sufficiently reliable in calculating performance
life cycle and how what they
measures that support funding and resourcing decisions. do fits into a bigger picture.
• Current performance measures are not helpful in identifying how and
where to make improvements.
• Agency performance measures were established based on what data
were available at the time, and now there are better data sources
available.
• New analysis or visualization tools are available that would provide
value, but require new data or changes to data formats.
Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases 3


• New data management practices are being implemented agency-wide

that offer opportunities to re-think how performance data are Research Report Available
collected and processed.
This guide is a product of
• Changes to organization or staffing of TPM functions have taken
NCHRP Project 08-108,
place, and the new manager is looking to make improvements. “Developing National Performance
• New or modified federal or state requirements for performance Management Data Strategies to
reporting are issued. Address Data Gaps, Standards, and
Quality.” A final research report
While this guide draws many examples related to the federally defined for this project is available that
TPM areas (safety, pavement, bridge, and system performance), it does not includes a detailed literature
provide official guidance for MAP-21/FAST Act target setting or review and practitioner interview
reporting. It is intended to provide a framework for assessing current results that were used to shape
this guide.
data management practices and a source of ideas for practice
improvement. Its purpose is to promote practices that will enable
agencies to go beyond meeting reporting requirements and to get
valuable insights from data that can be used to boost agency results.

Relationship to Other TPM

Guidance
This guide provides an overview of data management practices for TPM.
It is not a comprehensive reference on working with TPM data and does
Scope of the Guide
not go into depth on individual data sets or technical management
processes. It is intended for use in conjunction with other available This guide provides a high-level
references. view of data management
practices for TPM. Readers are
To understand how the material in this guide fits with the bigger-picture encouraged to consult the
TPM processes, the FHWA TPM Toolbox provides a useful framework, references provided at the end of
each section for further
which is illustrated in Figure 1. This guide builds on two components of information on topics of interest.
the FHWA TPM framework: C-Data Management and D-Data Usability
and Analysis. It also acknowledges the essential role of organizational and
cultural factors in successful TPM, illustrated by the outer circle
(component A) that encompasses all other elements of TPM.
Institutional barriers are often much harder to overcome than technical
barriers in making improvements to data management and utilization. It is
important to have strong leadership and buy-in across the organization
for any improvement initiative. The FHWA TPM Toolbox includes a
maturity assessment that agencies can use to gauge the state of their
organization and chart a future course.
See the end of this chapter for a link to the TPM Toolbox and additional
reference material on TPM and transportation data assessment and
management.


Figure 1. The FHWA TPM framework.

Introduction
Framework for Improving

Data Utilization in TPM
The framework for this guide is based on a cyclical model of a generic
data management process, depicted in Figure 2.
Figure 2. The data management cycle.
This cycle begins with specifying and defining data requirements, and then
proceeds to obtaining the data, storing it in one or more repositories,
and processing it as needed to support use. Then, data are shared in
various forms, analyzed and used for decision making, and communicated
to different audiences.


Figure 3 shows the organizing framework for this guide. It extends this
cyclical model of data management to illustrate the process of utilizing
data for TPM.
Figure 3. Framework for improving data utilization for TPM.
The left side of Figure 3 shows how data can be used within TPM. This
provides the motivation and the requirements for the six data
management processes shown on the right side of the diagram.
Every investment in data—whether it is collecting new data or improving
reporting tools—should be evaluated based on how it helps the agency
to better identify needs and solutions, prioritize projects, allocate funding,
manage real-time performance, enhance accountability, and/or meet
reporting requirements.
The bottom row of Figure 3 identifies three fundamental processes for
making use of data for TPM: Foundation, Reporting, and Insight:
• Establish a data Foundation—defining performance measures,
identifying data requirements, selecting data sources, and obtaining
the data.

Introduction
• Set up Reporting processes—establishing databases and reporting

systems and publishing data and reports.
• Gain Insights for decision making—analyzing performance data
to understand trends and explanatory factors/root causes,
developing predictive capabilities, setting performance targets, and
communicating the agency’s “performance story” to different
audiences.
The numbered columns of Figure 3 show how each of these
processes are broken down into more specific steps to specify, obtain,
store and manage, share, analyze and use, and communicate data for
TPM.
Establish a Data Foundation

Step 1: Specify & Define Data. Determine what types of data are
needed, how data will be used within TPM business processes, and—
based on this—specify attributes, scope, level of spatial and temporal
granularity, and frequency of updates.
Step 2: Obtain Data. Acquire the data needed for calculating
performance measures and for understanding trends and root causes of
performance results.
Set Up Reporting Processes

Step 3: Store & Manage Data. Set up data repositories either within
the agency or “in the cloud”; load, validate, clean, and integrate the data;
document the data for both technical and business users; and manage
access to the data—to both protect it from unauthorized use and to
ensure that it is accessible to those who need it.
Step 4: Share Data. Put the infrastructure in place to produce data
products (e.g., reports, maps, interactive portals) and share data across
business units within the agency, with partner agencies, and/or with the
general public.
Gain Insights for Decision Making

Step 5: Analyze & Use Data. Configure and use various data analysis
tools to understand trends, predict future performance, and formulate
performance targets.


Step 6: Present & Communicate Data. Translate data and analysis

results into information that can be understood and used by different
data customers.
It is important to note that getting data right for TPM can take
time and experimentation. While these steps are numbered and
generally follow a linear order, they may be carried out in parallel, in a
different sequence, or in an iterative fashion. For example, in the process
of creating data visualizations (Step 6), one might identify needs for
additional data (Step 2) or improved data cleansing (Step 3), or perhaps
creation of an additional performance measure (Step 1).
Common feedback loops are illustrated in Figure 3 with arrows
connecting different steps along the top:
• Steps 5 and 6 are often accomplished iteratively—analysis of data
is conducted in preparation for presentation, but the process of
presenting and communicating data may lead to further analysis to
answer questions that arise.
• Data analysis in Step 5 may identify needs for changes in how data
and performance measures are specified.
• Review of data after it is acquired may also uncover gaps or
limitations that were not anticipated, and they may lead to the
need for changes in data or performance measure specification.
Nevertheless, this simplified framework can be used to consider all of the
steps needed to make effective use of data for TPM and identify areas for
improvement.
The remainder of this guide provides guidance for each of the six steps
and presents a set of case study vignettes that illustrate various aspects of
data utilization for TPM. Note that this guide does not attempt to be
comprehensive in its treatment of data management or TPM practices
given the extensive available literature on these topics. It focuses on key
points that agencies should keep in mind when considering practice
improvements.
Guidance for each step includes
• A discussion of what is involved in implementing each step and some
of the critical choices to be made
• A synthesis of key points in the form of “Do’s and Don’ts”
• Checklists that can be used to assess agency capabilities and identify
opportunities for improvement

Introduction
o For each step, checklists for “basic” and “advancing”

capabilities are provided. The intent is that agencies focus
first on getting the “basic” capabilities in place, and then
seek to further advance their practices. A set of pull-out
worksheets are provided at the end of this guide with
these checklists that can be duplicated and used to assess
agency capabilities.
• References that provide further information related to the step
For more information...

1. FHWA TPM Toolbox
Guidebook: https://www.tpmtools.org/guidebook/
Maturity Assessment: https://assessment.tpmtools.org/
2. NCHRP Report 866: Return on Investment in Asset
Management Systems and Practices (TRB, 2018)
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25017/return-on-investment-
in-transportation-asset-management-systems-and-practices
3. Applying Archived Operations Data in Transportation
Planning: A Primer (FHWA, 2016)
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop16082/
4. NCHRP Report 814: Data to Support Transportation
Agency Business Needs: A Self-Assessment Guide (TRB,
2015) http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/173470.aspx
5. Performance-Based Planning and Programming Guidebook
(FHWA, 2013)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/performance_based_pla
nning/pbpp_guidebook/
6. Benefit-Cost Analysis of Investing in Data Systems and
Processes for Data-Driven Safety Programs (FHWA, 2012)
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/downloads/bcareport.pdf

Foundation

Step 1
Specify & Define Data
“We don’t have time to do it
This step involves the up-front work to define data right, but we always have
time to do it over.”
requirements for TPM. – Anon
You may be seeking to add new performance

measures, modify your existing measures, or improve
the efficiency of your data gathering processes.
Whenever a change to performance measures or
associated data is contemplated, the following
guidance can help to plan and scope improvements.
Taking the time to work through each sub-step below

will pay off in the form of a solid business case for
change and reduced risk that re-work will be required
in the future.

Step 1.1
Define Need, Vision, & Scope
Define business needs for data. Begin with the business objective(s) Case G
and concern(s) in mind and consider how your performance measures
will be used to support them. The goal is to clearly articulate the business To support its TPM efforts and
case for new data to agency managers and stakeholders. To do this, you as part of a broader strategy for
need to answer three questions: making effective use of data, the
Mid-America Regional Council
• What will new data tell us? (MARC) data coordination
• How will we act on it? committee compiled a top 10 list
of high-priority data sets for
• Is the cost of obtaining the data worth the value that will be
automation. This top 10 created
added? a road map for subsequent work
Define and document what information is needed to meet both internal activities to organize critical data
sets at MARC. Priorities included
agency decision-making requirements as well as external reporting and pavement and bridge conditions,
information-sharing requirements. safety measures, and system
performance.
• For agency decision support, document each decision: what is the
decision, when is it made, who makes it, and who provides
supporting information. Example decisions are which bridges to
program for rehabilitation, which intersections to target for safety
improvements, what percentage of available funding should be
allocated to bridges versus pavements, and what strategies should be
Tip
considered to address freight bottlenecks.
• For external performance reporting requirements, document what needs Don’t limit your scope to the
to be reported, when reports are due, and the required format for data needed to calculate
performance measures. Also
the information. Include references to any applicable regulations or consider the data needed to
guidance documents. understand trends or patterns,
• For external performance information sharing, define what formulate strategies, and identify
performance information the agency will share with the traveling appropriate actions to improve
public and with external partners. Document the intended uses of performance.
the information by each type of audience.
Specify the data requirements. For each of the above business
needs, identify the following:
• What data attributes are essential for calculating performance
measures, and what additional attributes might be helpful for
providing context and interpreting performance results?
• What scope of data coverage is needed?

• What granularity of data is needed—what time period and spatial

unit should each data observation represent?
• What level of precision is required?
• How current do data need to be—one year old? one day old? real
time?
Current federal TPM rules establish many of these requirements for
pavement, bridge, safety, and system performance measures. However,
many agencies choose to go beyond these minimum requirements or
maintain additional measures to meet their own internal needs. For
example, state DOTs generally track pavement condition for all paved
roads they maintain, not just on the National Highway System, and use
locally defined condition indices that support project-level decision
Case J
making.
Identify common data needs across business units. Rather than PennDOT identified five specific
looking at the data requirements of individual business units in isolation, business goals that guided
identify common needs. Socio-economic data, population forecasts, traffic collaborative establishment of a
Statewide Operations Data
data, roadway characteristics, and project status are examples of shared Warehouse that broke down
data needs. Engage each business unit in vetting of possible data sources agency data silos.
and work toward a coordinated data gathering strategy.
Carefully specify location attributes. Involve data users and
geographic information system (GIS) staff in your agency in specifying
location accuracy requirements and measurement methods. Be sure to
understand the reasons for gathering data based on a linear reference
rather than using Global Positioning System (GPS) locations. Linear
references such as route-milepoint can provide convenient ways for
someone without technology to find a feature. If only GPS coordinates
are available, it can sometimes be difficult to determine a specific route Case E
location—for example, for complex interchanges.
Consider data integration needs. Effective TPM rarely relies on a Maryland SHA found that linking
disparate data sets enabled
single isolated data set. Meaningful metrics often require integration of effective after action reviews to
multiple data sets and types. For example, speed data alone may identify improve operational
slowdowns and delay patterns, but it does little to provide insight as to preparedness and response.
why there are slowdowns. Combining speed data with incident and
weather data can paint a more complete picture of system performance
as it relates to recurring and non-recurring congestion.
In order to integrate data sets effectively, agencies must focus on linkages
between data sets using time and geography information, as well as
available contextual information. For example, the location and time of
the start of delay should be cross-referenced with available weather

conditions in that location and at that time, as well as understanding that

the delay is happening during a busy holiday season in a retail area.
Considering data integration needs early can save effort later that may be
required to build integrated data sets for analysis. Tip
Key questions to address are the following: Anticipate that an iterative
approach will be needed to fully
• What data sets need to be linked? understand your data
• What data elements can be used for temporally and spatially linking requirements. There is no
the data sets? substitute for having actual data
• What quality checks are required to make sure that these link in hand and trying to use it. That
will inevitably lead to adjustments
elements are complete and accurate? in specifications.
• What data standards should be followed for newly acquired data so
that these linkages can be made?
Answering these questions will ensure that any new data collected are
“integration-ready.” It is much easier to address integration needs up
front rather than after data are collected.

1. Guide for Prioritizing Assets for Inclusion in Transportation Asset
Management (TAM) Programs (FHWA, 2019—forthcoming)
2. Priorities in Roadway Safety Data Guide (FHWA, 2017)
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/downloads/fhwasa17032.pdf
3. Minnesota Department of Transportation Data Business Plan
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2007)
https://www.dot.state.mn.us/tda/databusinessplan.docx

Step 1.2
Define Performance
Measures
Case I
Specify, test, and document performance measure calculations.
For each performance measure, precisely document the data inputs and Ohio DOT established “regain
calculations needed. This documentation should have all of the time” as a winter performance
information needed for a programmer/analyst to implement the measure and defined it as the
elapsed time from the end of the
calculations. Test the calculations with sample data and compare values
snow or ice event to the time at
and trends against other similar measures that may be available. which speeds recover to typical
Describe performance measures in plain English. Performance levels. Regain time is the type of
measure that is easily
measures involving multiple data inputs and complex calculation logic communicated to decision
should be documented in a manner that end users can understand. For makers and the general public, yet
example, the measure “Buffer Time Index” can be described as “the it ties well with operational actions
amount of extra buffer time a commuter needs to allow to avoid being that directly influence it.
late to work more than one day per month.”

1. National Performance Measures for Congestion, Reliability,
and Freight, and CMAQ Traffic Congestion (FHWA, 2018)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tpm/guidance/hif18040.pdf
2. Validation of Pavement Performance Measures Using LTPP
Data: Final Report (FHWA, 2018)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/
pavements/ltpp/17089/17089.pdf
3. Computation Procedure for the Bridge Performance Measures
(FHWA, 2018)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tpm/guidance/hif18023.pdf
4. Freight Performance Measures Primer (FHWA, 2017)
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop16089/fhwahop1
6089.pdf
5. Transportation Management Center—Data Capture for
Performance and Mobility Measures Reference Manual
(FHWA, 2013)
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/3373

Step 1.3
Identify Analysis &
Reporting Requirements
Understand data user needs. Consider the information needs of
Case G
different audiences and identify how they want to consume this
information. Conduct interviews or focus groups to learn about analysis To ensure MARC’s data
and reporting needs and desired improvements. developers understand how the
Specify and document data extracts and report formats. For data they manage is ultimately
used, data personnel regularly
some audiences, standard, static reports will be sufficient; others may participate in meetings with
need more flexible views of the data with the ability to drill down into transportation planning staff,
details from a summary view or to obtain direct access to data via an both to discuss high-level data
application programming interface (API). Others may want to load needs and more focused detail-
detailed performance data into specialized analysis tools such as oriented breakout information.
pavement management systems, safety analysis systems, or traffic
simulation models. Identifying these different needs early can help to
avoid unexpected data requests that may be difficult to satisfy once data
systems and processes are established.

1. Road Safety Fundamentals—Unit 3: Measuring Safety (FHWA,
2017)
https://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/RSF/unit3.pdf
2. TRB Web Document 9: Meeting Critical Data Needs for Decision
Making in State and Metropolitan Transportation Agencies—
Summary of a Conference. Transportation Research Board
Conference Proceedings on the Web (Transportation Research
Board of the National Academies, 2013)
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/conf/CPW9.pdf

Capabilities Checklist: Specify & Define Do’s & Don’ts

Data Do:
Basic  Have a clear business case for new

data that articulates how the data
o The business need for data has been identified and documentation of will be used to improve
this need is available for future reference. performance.
o An inventory of existing agency data sources has been compiled.  Educate stakeholders on the benefits
o Managers of the units responsible for data collection can describe the of performance measures.
primary users and uses of that data.  Put in the time and effort needed to
nail down data requirements in a
o Data requirements to meet internal and external performance precise fashion—ambiguity can lead
reporting requirements are defined and documented, including to downstream problems.
attributes, scope, and granularity.  Implement small-scale pilots to test
o Location referencing methods for performance data are established out new types of data and assess
to enable linkages with other agency data sets. their value.
o Update frequencies for new data are defined and documented. Don’t:
o Authoritative data sources have been designated for performance  Establish performance measures
measure calculations. solely based on what data you have
(instead, figure out what you would
Advancing like to measure first and then assess
options for getting the data you
o Discussions about data requirements are not constrained by the need).
status quo; they reflect what is important to know about  Approach data requirements from
transportation performance in order to improve. the perspective of a single business
o Data needs are identified to support the entire TPM cycle (beyond unit (instead, try to identify common
needs).
performance reporting) including root cause analysis, identification  Go too lean on data requirements in
and prioritization of improvements, and evaluation of impacts. order to save money in the short
o Minimum data quality standards are established considering timeliness, term and miss an opportunity to
accuracy, completeness, consistency, and accessibility. gain new insights that provide a
o Data requirements are defined collaboratively across business units, bigger bang for the buck.
 Neglect to understand location
including GIS and information technology. accuracy requirements (instead,
o Data communities of interest (or equivalent) have been established to investigate how location should be
identify data improvements to support different business needs. measured and represented).

Step 2
Obtain Data
This involves activities related to obtaining the data
“Increasingly, data is gathered by
needed to support the entire TPM process, including information-sensing mobile
• data needed to calculate performance measures, devices, remote sensing, software
logs, cameras, microphones, and
• data needed to provide context necessary to wireless sensor networks. Global
understand performance trends, technological information per-
capita capacity has
• data needed to understand root causes and factors approximately doubled every 40
contributing to performance results, months since the 1980s.”
• data needed to set realistic targets, and Institute of Engineering and
• data needed for selecting strategies to improve Technology
performance.
These data may be obtained from existing internal,
external, and commercial sources. New data may also
be gathered using in-house resources and/or via
contract.

Step 2.1
Assess & Select Data Sources
Identify available data. Identify existing data sources that could be
tapped to meet some or all of the requirements. Review sources within Case I
the agency, sources from external partners (federal agencies, state
agencies, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO), local agencies, Ohio DOT wanted to track how
quickly roads returned to normal
universities), and commercial sources. Obtain detailed information about speeds following a storm. They
each source, including data elements and their definitions, scope, date of were able to leverage existing
last update, frequency of updates, available formats, costs, and use data sources, including their RWIS
restrictions. and commercial speed data.
Evaluate available data sources against requirements. For each

available data source, identify gaps between what is required and what
the source can deliver. Develop estimates of the costs to fill the gaps
through new data gathering activities. Use the list of gaps and the cost
information to discuss
• whether some of the requirements can be relaxed,
• whether proposed performance measures can be modified to better
align with available data, and
• whether there are workarounds that can be applied (e.g., through
sampling techniques or fusion of multiple data sources).
Also, identify any constraints associated with data sources (e.g., usage
restrictions) that could limit the value of those sources to support TPM.

1. Institution of Engineering and Technology: IET Sector Insights: Big Data in
Transport https://www.theiet.org/sectors/transport/topics/intelligent-
mobility/articles/big-data.cfm
2. Using Truck GPS Data for Freight Performance Analysis in the Twin Cities
Metro Area (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2014)
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/research/TS/2014/201414.pdf
3. NCFRP Report 25: Freight Data Sharing Guidebook (Transportation
Research Board of the National Academies, 2013)
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/22569/freight-data-sharing-guidebook
4. Asset Management Data Collection for Supporting Decision Processes
(FHWA, 2006)
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/dataintegration/if08018/assetmgmt_web.pdf

Step 2.2
Acquire Data
It may be appropriate to launch a data acquisition effort if Case E
• current agency data sources will not meet the requirements,
• there are no suitable commercial sources that meet the Maryland SHA captures a rich set
of data about highway incidents
requirements (for an acceptable price), including the name of responders,
• there is a business case for new data collection, and the road surface conditions, lane
• resources are available—both for initial collection and ongoing closings/openings over the course
upkeep of the data. of the incident, and operator
notes. These data are then
Once you have decided to collect new data, you must determine combined with data from ITS
whether to collect the data with in-house personnel or outsource data devices [Dynamic Message Signs
(DMS), Closed Caption
collection to a vendor. This will depend on the scale of the effort and in-
Television (CCTV) images,
house staff capacity. volume and speed detectors,
Regardless of who will be collecting the data, it is essential to have a signals] and probe-based speed
data.
documented plan describing how it will be collected.
Create a data collection and quality management plan. Prepare a
detailed plan to guide both data collection and quality management
activities (see Table 1 for suggested elements of such a plan). Data quality
management takes additional time and effort but should be integral to the
data collection process. Without sufficient resourcing for data quality,
there is a risk that the data collected will not be usable.
Remember that the people who collect the data are in the best position
to ensure quality. Build in training activities so that they understand not
only how to collect the data, but why the data are being collected and
what the intended uses are. Check in with them during the data
collection and see if they have suggestions for improving the process.

Table 1. Contents of a data collection and quality management plan.

Data Specifications Data element descriptions and allowable values
Measurement methods
Accuracy and precision
Data formats
Data Collection Schedule
Procedures Scope
Roles and responsibilities
Procedures
Issue reporting and resolution protocols
Staffing Training and certification of data collectors
Supervision and management roles
Equipment Specifications
Calibration
Certification
Quality Control Quality checks before and during collection
Data Acceptance Acceptance criteria
Error resolution procedures
Data Review and Review procedures and responsibilities
Validation Accuracy checks for sample records
Independent verification
Aggregation—check totals
Field-level validation
Record-level validation
Check against prior value
Visualization
Reporting Data quality metrics and targets
Data quality reporting protocols
Error reporting procedures for data users


1. Guidelines for Development and Approval of State Data Quality
Management Programs (FHWA, 2018)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/management/pubs/dqmp.pdf
2. Southeast Michigan Council of Governments—Innovative Traffic
Data Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedures and
Automating AADT Estimation (Case Study) (FHWA, 2015)
3. Practical Guide for Quality Management of Pavement Condition
Data Collection (FHWA, 2013)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/management/qm/data_qm_gu
ide.pdf
4. I-95 Corridor Coalition, Vehicle Probe Project Scope and
Methodology (2009) http://i95coalition.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/02/Validation-Process-May-19-2009-distr-
June-20092.pdf?x70560

Capabilities Checklist: Obtain Data

Basic
o Data collection procedures and protocols are defined and Do’s & Don’ts
documented. Do:
o Data collection and processing workflows are mapped to clearly  Coordinate across units
assigned responsibilities and deadlines. within the agency prior to
o Existing agency data sources are reviewed prior to collection of new collecting new data to avoid
data. duplication; plan for
o Available external (public and private) data sources are reviewed integration needs.
prior to collection of new data.  Invest in data quality
management to make sure
o Quality management procedures are defined and documented— that data collected are
including training and certification for data collection personnel. reliable.
o Requirements are in place that ensure new data collection adheres to  Communicate with partner
agency location referencing standards. agencies to identify areas for
o Impacts of changes to existing data collection methods are assessed collaboration.
to minimize loss of consistent trend data and disruption to existing  Periodically evaluate if there
is a better way to get the
reports. data you need.
o Data sources are assessed to understand usage restrictions that may
Don’t:
limit value.
 Purchase private data without
Advancing understanding its derivation
and limitations.
o The full cost of new data acquisition is estimated, considering initial  Enter into a data use
collection, ongoing updates, and supporting staff and technology agreement with terms that
infrastructure. are overly restrictive for your
o Funding for regular data updates (beyond the initial collection) is agency.
 Change data collection
planned and committed. methods without identifying
o There is regular communication with partner agencies to identify how this may impact existing
opportunities for collaboration on data collection. reports and the ability to
o Periodic scans are conducted to identify ways to improve data quality understand trends.
and collection efficiency.
o Agency guidance and/or coordination protocols have been established
to assist business units wishing to purchase commercial data sources.
o Specialists with appropriate expertise (in-house or contractors)
evaluate use of emerging private data sources.
o Data requirements are defined with consideration of opportunities to
create valuable information through integration of multiple data
sources.

Reporting

Step 3
Store & Manage Data
This step includes validating, cleaning, normalizing,
aggregating, and integrating data; storing the data in
one or more repositories—either within the agency or
“in the cloud”; producing documentation needed for
“Data is just like crude. It’s
both technical and business users of the data; and valuable, but if unrefined it
managing access to the data—to both protect it from cannot really be used.”
unauthorized use and to ensure that it is accessible to Michael Palmer
those who need it. This step also includes activities to
design, develop, and manage databases and technical
infrastructure for data storage and data integration.
The key decisions that agencies must make are

• where and how to store data,
• how to make sure data can be integrated across
repositories as needed,
• which best practices should be implemented for
QA and documentation, and
• how much data to keep.

Step 3.1
Establish Databases
Design databases to support analysis needs. Performance measures Case G
rely on a deep archive of data to develop an accurate baseline;
understand multi-year, seasonal trends; and establish reasonable targets. MARC repurposed two open
Database design supporting performance measures should consider positions, including a “GIS
requirements for reporting, trend analysis, and root cause analysis. specialist” and a “demographer,”
Design should also consider the possibility that requirements may change into “data developer” positions
capable of creating and managing
over time—for example, an agency may decide to calculate different systematic workflows for data
metrics, drawing on the same raw data sources. Therefore, both raw and gathering and organization. The
transformed data may need to be stored. When raw data is voluminous developers have since created
(for example, pavement images), processed data can be maintained in automated processes to obtain
active storage and the raw data can be kept in lower-cost archive data sets and import them into
SQL databases. The databases
storage. have front-end interfaces that
Determine data retention policies. If retention policies are not greatly simplify the process of
querying them to extract the
modernized to reflect changes in storage costs, or if they are set without
information MARC needs.
full understanding of business needs, there is a danger of loss of valuable
data and TPM capability. Ten or more years ago, data storage hardware
was both physically large and expensive. Therefore, agencies implemented
data retention policies to better manage budgets and constrained physical
space in data centers by limiting the amount of storage and the duration
of the storage. Both the size and cost of storage have dropped
dramatically over the years. With the exponential cost savings and
available storage options, agencies can re-examine their retention policies
to make sure they align with business needs. For example:
• An agency may be required to report performance of the system to
the federal or state government in 15-minute intervals. That agency
may be tempted to aggregate raw data coming in 1-minute intervals
and only retain the aggregate information to save space. Later, the
agency may identify a need to track incident management
performance metrics—requiring the original 1-minute data that
tracks growing and shrinking queue lengths, user delay, arterial signal
performance, and the effects of secondary incidents. If the 1-minute
data are gone, the agency may be unable to track that metric
accurately (if at all).
• A data set may have limited value by itself and would be considered
unimportant for retention. However, when combined with other

data sets, it may provide new and important performance measures

insights that neither data set could in isolation.
Data storage architectures can be designed to consider both current and
future TPM data requirements. For example, cleaned and processed data
that support frequent and/or immediate TPM needs can be stored using
faster and more accessible servers. Raw data used to generate those
measures and calculations can be stored on lower-end servers or storage
arrays locally or with a cloud-based back-up provider. Agency TPM
personnel should work collaboratively with information technology (IT)
departments and records managers within the agency to draft more
modern retention policies.
Plan for both “big” and “small” data. As the concept of “big data”
becomes more prevalent and hyped, there is a potential for data
proponents and decision makers to focus too much on big data and
overlook the value of “small data.” For example, in an effort to utilize a
big data set, agencies may invest in big data platforms that are not
designed to handle smaller data sets. The push to keep on top of the
latest technology trends can usurp resources from existing data and
performance management programs and may not meet the agency’s
predominant requirements.
How does an agency determine when data is big enough to require a big
data storage approach? The true sign of a need for a big data platform is
when traditional storage and processing techniques become inadequate
for the specific usage needs that have been identified. Agencies should
strike a balance in their investment in big and small data platforms and
work backwards from their use cases to the storage strategies. For
example:
• It is appropriate to store some data sets in relational databases if
they lend themselves well to normalization, indexing, joining, and
database-supported statistical analysis. Calculating incident
clearance metrics can be done very effectively using a traditional
database management system.
• On the other hand, complex analytics that parse through billions
or even trillions of data points for identifying problem locations,
prioritizing projects, computing user delay, or understanding the
complexities of signal retiming efforts are computationally
expensive and are not cost effective in traditional relational
databases. In order to fully leverage both types of data sets,

agencies can develop simple interfaces that operate across both

the traditional relational databases and big data platforms.
Agencies should have strategies for both big and small data, including a
way to integrate across both types of data. A well-designed storage
architecture can be flexible enough to accommodate both data sets as
well as incremental changes as technology and data continue to develop.
Identify storage options. In the past, agencies had to rely on in-house
systems to store and process their data. As the concept of cloud
computing becomes more mainstream, agencies are now presented with
a choice between storing data in-house or in the cloud. There are also a
variety of commercial and open source data storage options available for
both cloud and on-premise. What is right for each agency is highly
dependent on the TPM use case, agency policies (procurement, IT, etc.),
IT staff support, the type of data, and how frequently the data will be
accessed. There are several general considerations each agency should
address as they evaluate their options.
Consider commercial cloud and specialized hosted solutions.
Commercial cloud providers’ services (like Amazon, Azure, etc.) appear Case H
to be very affordable when pricing is based solely on the amount of data
to be stored. However, agencies need to consider more than just the size New Jersey DOT uses an
of their data when estimating costs. Pricing is also highly dependent on outsourced cloud-based hosting
the number of transactions (or the number of times you access the data platform and subject matter
expertise to collect, store, and
and process it) and how much bandwidth is used.
analyze complex data sets to
For example, it may be inexpensive to load raw data into the cloud, but support agency TPM efforts.
very costly to extract it back when needed to calculate metrics to support
TPM. The appropriate approach then may be to move data processing
and metrics calculations to the cloud as well and avoid extraneous costs
of downloading data each time it needs to be processed.
Alternatively, agencies can rely on specialized hosted solutions from their
partners: universities, consultants, and sister agencies. Partners may have
a better understanding of the transportation and TPM domain and
provide more cost-effective approaches for storing transportation data.
While in-house solutions often provide more control, they also require a
larger investment in workforce and physical infrastructure. However,
storing data in the cloud may not be cost effective for highly transactive
systems. It is important to consider all these aspects to avoid becoming a
“hostage” of a vendor or service or investing in an internal system that
becomes obsolete due to its inability to innovate and stay current.

Plan for data security. Implement a sound data back-up strategy that
will allow you to restore data in the event of a hardware failure, cyber-
attack, or inability to physically access facilities. If your data contains
personally identifiable information (PII) or other sensitive elements, it
should be clearly categorized as sensitive and managed to prevent
unauthorized access. TPM-related data that may be sensitive include
crash reports, travel survey data, and data from mobile devices. Some
agencies have policies that do not allow sensitive data to be stored in the
cloud. However, many cloud providers have a robust security policy to
both prevent and recover from cybersecurity compromises. In contrast,
agencies may have limited funds and expertise to implement robust
security mechanisms.
Maintain metadata. While some data sets are considered “self-
explanatory,” metadata and documentation are critical. For example,
highway crashes may appear to be a straightforward data set. On closer
examination, you may find that data from one jurisdiction is gathered
using different definitions for serious injuries than another. Data may be
collected using a mixture of electronic and manual processes with
different quality assurance processes applied. Newer data sets may be
provisional and subject to further updates. Metadata and documentation
become even more important when data is used in calculations to
support TPM. Two individuals can use the same raw data and measure
definition, but execute calculations differently depending on the context
and interpret the results completely differently.
Metadata should be maintained at both the data set and data element
level. Data set metadata covers information such as source, spatial and
temporal scope, quality, and access classification. Data element metadata
covers meaning, origins, usage, value domain, and format. Standards for
data set level metadata can be found in International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) 19115 and the Office of Management and Budget’s
(OMB) Project Open Data (POD) Schema. Standards for data element
level metadata can be found in ISO/IEC 11179.
Proper metadata and documentation that is frequently updated and
audited can ensure that confusion and interpretation variations are
minimized. Metadata and documentation must be properly versioned so
that data processing spanning different versions of metadata can be
interpreted and processed properly.


1. ISO 19115—Geographic Information-Metadata
https://www.iso.org/standard/53798.html
2. ISO/IEC 11179—Information Technology-Metadata Registries
http://metadata-standards.org/11179/
3. NCHRP Project 17-75, Leveraging Big Data to Improve Traffic
Incident Management (TRB, 2019—publication forthcoming)
http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=
4051
4. Integrating Emerging Data Sources into Operational Practice
(FHWA, 2017) https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/34175
5. NCHRP Project 08-36 Task 130, Inventory and Assessment of
Methods for Making Collected Transportation Data Anonymous
(TRB, 2016)
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP08-
36(130)_FR.pdf

Step 3.2
Load & Integrate Data
Establish repeatable data loading processes. Ad hoc data loading
conducted in a rushed manner is a recipe for disaster. Repeatable Case G
processes need to be set up and, ideally, automated to load and
transform raw data into a form suitable for use. When a problem occurs At MARC, use of automated
with a data load, procedures should be in place to roll back and then processes and commercial data
integration tools for maintaining
repeat the process once the issue is identified. Sometimes, a series of key data sets has greatly simplified
loads are needed to refresh data in various repositories. For example, the process of querying, which
new bridge inspection data may be loaded into a staging database for means MARC is able to dedicate
review and quality assurance. The data may then be transferred to the more time to analyzing data, not
bridge management system database for analysis and to the agency’s road just collecting it.
inventory system. These data flows should be thoroughly tested,
automated, and well-documented. Accurate and detailed documentation
is essential, especially when data loads occur infrequently and there are
multiple systems and staff from different business units involved.
Case K
Store both raw and processed data. Storing transformed
performance data in addition to raw data can facilitate analysis and Virginia DOT integrated
reporting. pavement condition data with
data on planned paving projects
Make use of data integration tools. There is a wide array of to produce performance
commercial and open source tools available supporting data integration monitoring reports that tracked
processes. Some tools are geared to building extract-transform-load anticipated versus actual changes
processes for data warehouse environments; others are geared to big in condition and the likelihood of
data sets. Several excellent tools focus on integrating geospatial data. Use achieving performance targets.
The data integration effort relied
of these tools requires expertise and involves a learning curve, but it can on standardization of several data
save a great deal of time for data loading and integration tasks while also elements across two databases.
reducing the risk that errors are introduced through highly manual
processes.


1. NCHRP Synthesis 523: Integration of Road Safety Data from State
and Local Sources (TRB, 2018)
http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/177990.aspx
2. NCHRP 08-36, Task 131: Transportation Data Integration to
Develop Planning Performance Measures (TRB, 2017)
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP08-
36(131)_FR.pdf
3. Informational Guide for State, Tribal and Local Safety Data
Integration (FHWA, 2016)
4. Data Integration Primer (FHWA, 2010)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/dataintegration/if10019/if10019.pdf

Step 3.3
Assess & Improve Data
Quality
Data quality assessment. Poor quality data may have significant
impacts on calculated performance metrics and therefore impact TPM
decisions. Step 2.2 discussed the importance of planning for data quality “Data that is loved tends to
as part of data acquisition and outlined the contents of a data quality survive.”
management plan. However, there may be already-existing data sets
needed for TPM that are of unknown quality. A data quality assessment Kurt Bollacker
can be conducted to determine suitability of a data set for use in TPM.
Quality assessment can consider multiple characteristics, including
completeness, currency, accuracy, and consistency. Data accessibility and
interoperability are also sometimes considered. Assessing data quality
involves establishing data quality metrics and measurement methods. For
example, a metric for crash data completeness might be the percentage
of data records that are missing a location code. This could be measured
through a simple data query. Accuracy is typically assessed through a
combination of independent verification for a sample of the records and
application of validation checks to make sure measured values are within
expected ranges.
Quality management. Quality management is a continuous process
Case D
that starts prior to data acquisition and continues through the entire data
life cycle. It should include analysis and flagging of data records that fail
specific quality policies and thresholds. For example, pavement roughness I-95 Corridor Coalition data use
measurements less than 30 inches/mile or travel speeds over 150 mph agreements contain explicit data
quality specifications that ensure
might be flagged as suspect.
3rd-party-provided data meets
It is important to find the right balance when planning for data quality required quality standards to
improvement. All too often, agencies spend large amounts of resources support TPM.
attempting to clean, scrub, and validate data—only to find that there
continue to be data issues regardless of how much time and energy is
spent in cleaning. Perfection becomes the enemy of good, and agencies
end up never fully using the data to inform decisions. Worse, the
department (or person) responsible for the data hides it or prevents
others from using it due to potential issues, fear, liability, etc. As soon as
data (in any form) become available, it can and should be analyzed for
data quality and consistency. The act of analyzing data, even when it has

not been cleaned or validated, is important for guiding and informing

potential users, applications, and data investment decisions.
Annotating (not discarding) suspect records. When suspect data
records are encountered, a methodical process should be followed to flag
these records and address the gaps in a carefully planned manner. Bad
data records should not be summarily deleted because this could cause
downstream analysis problems. Discarding bad data could negatively
impact calculations if data gaps are not properly addressed. One way to
address suspect or missing records is to fill gaps with historical data or
otherwise imputed data. When this approach is used, these imputed
records must be flagged to ensure that TPM decisions account for this
simulated/modeled input.
In some situations, marking and tracking bad data can provide important
information that can be used to improve future data quality. For example,
a crash data manager might observe a pattern of inaccurate or
incomplete crash records from one particular source. As another
example, a traffic sensor may exhibit a specific pattern where it reports
erroneous data (or does not report data) every day during the 8am hour.
If bad data is discarded or not otherwise tracked, this particular failure
(and its cause) may never become evident and subsequently continue to
impact metrics based on that data.

1. Development of a Computational Framework for Big Data-Driven
Prediction of Long-Term Bridge Performance and Traffic Flow
(Midwest Transportation Center, 2018)
2. Crash Data Improvement Program Guide (NHTSA, 2017)
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812419
3. National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS)
—Speed Validation for Traffic Performance Measures (Oklahoma
Department of Transportation, 2017)
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/Research/FinalRep_2300_FHWA-
OK-17-02.pdf

Capabilities Checklist: Store & Manage

Data Do’s and Don’ts
Do:
Basic  Consider cloud storage to reduce or
o Data needed for TPM is stored in databases that are managed and minimize the agency’s IT footprint and
regularly backed-up to provide protection from unauthorized make it easier to scale storage up or
down based on need.
access and corruption.  Explore hosted solutions from partners
o Back-ups are tested on a regular, established cycle (e.g., monthly). —universities, consultants, and sister
o Quality control procedures are in place to flag records that do not agencies—to provide cost-effective
meet established validation criteria. approaches to managing large and
o Data dictionary information (metadata) is maintained and stored in complex data sources.
a standardized fashion.  Explore how fusing of disparate data
sources can add value to your analysis
o Annual data snapshots are created for coordinated reporting and capabilities.
across data programs.  Build or hire expertise in statistical
analysis and computer programming to
Advancing effectively analyze and transform data
into TPM-related information.
o Hardware and software requirements for data storage, updating,  Adjust your agency’s data retention
integration, and access are understood. policies and storage architectures so
o Central data repositories have been established to integrate data that potentially useful data isn’t
from multiple sources and provide source data for reporting and destroyed permanently.
analysis.  Establish repeatable, automated, and
documented data-loading processes.
o Cloud and hosted storage options are considered for larger and
more complex data sets.
 Take advantage of commercial data
integration tools.
o Data retention policies and archiving protocols have been updated
to reflect lower storage costs and analysis of TPM business data Don’t:
needs.  Delete older data. The minute you get
o A range of data storage options are available to support databases rid of it, you’ll find you need it again.
 Delete erroneous data records. Flag
with high transaction volumes and memory-intensive calculations as
them instead.
well as archived data retained for future use.  Aggregate data sets to the lowest
o Standards have been adopted to enable combining data from common denominator to save on
different sources. storage space.
o Data from multiple sources are fused to assemble a more complete  Let the allure of “big data” technologies
prevent you from continuing to invest in
and accurate data set than would be possible from any single
proven solutions.
source.  Rely on ad hoc approaches to loading
o Where appropriate, edge computing techniques are used— and integrating data.
involving data processing at the source (e.g., at the site of the field
sensor) rather than within a centralized repository.

Step 4
Share Data
This step includes sharing transportation performance
data across business units within an agency, across “There’s a digital revolution
taking place both in and out of
agencies, or with the general public. This includes but government in favor of open-
is not limited to transmitting data and reports to meet sourced data, innovation, and
reporting obligations. collaboration.”
Kathleen Sebelius, Former

Agencies benefit from sharing data through improved United States Secretary of
Health and Human Services
coordination across jurisdictions, enhanced
understanding of joint priorities, and leveraging of
investments.
Note: this step focuses on the mechanics of data

sharing and reporting, including tool selection. See Step
5 for a discussion of data analysis and Step 6 for a
discussion of communicating data.

Step 4.1
Establish Reporting &
Presentation Infrastructure
Select and deploy analysis and reporting tools. Data analysis and
Case E
reporting tools that are available to agency staff are a critical element in
making effective use of data. These can include tools that fuse “siloed”
Maryland State Highway
data from disparate sources, tools that fill in gaps (missing data), and Administration (SHA) uses
those that identify or screen data outliers. Other important tools support Regional Integrated
analytics and visualization that help the agencies “see” into the data— Transportation Information
asking questions, identifying issues, deriving meaning from the data, and System (RITIS) visual analytics to
communicating those insights to others. Tools include commercial combine disparate data sets and
derive valuable information as
business intelligence packages that support both traditional reporting as part of after action reviews for
well as dashboards: GIS tools, statistical analysis packages, and specialized operational improvements.
tools geared to particular types of performance data—for example, asset
management systems and analytics platforms for congestion performance
reporting.
While it is unlikely that a single reporting and analysis tool can meet all of
the agency’s needs, it is important to keep in mind that every new tool
requires support to bring on new releases, train users, and troubleshoot
issues. It is best to follow a disciplined and coordinated process of
defining needs and requirements and considering whether existing tools
are sufficient prior to bringing on a new tool.
Make build versus buy decisions. Developing the appropriate
analytics software and databases that make the data easier to analyze and
accessible to end users can be a significant hurdle for agencies. For an
agency to build successful tools independently, they will typically need to
draw upon the expertise of software engineers, system architects, user
interface and user experience design specialists, developers, and project
managers. The tools will need to be maintained over time; therefore,
ample documentation and knowledgeable staff are needed that can be
called upon over the course of many years to keep the tools up to date.
Building complex tools with extremely small teams can be risky and
costly to an agency.
Because of the high barrier to entry and continuing maintenance costs of
developing custom tools, many agencies are now choosing to either
purchase off-the-shelf tools or to leverage tools that other

agencies/universities have already paid to develop. This effectively creates

a pooled-fund approach to software development and maintenance. This
approach is becoming easier for those agencies who are unaccustomed to
purchasing services and for those who have historically not adopted tools
and products that were not developed in-house or even within their
respective states.
Whether an agency decides to build their own tools, hire consultants to
build custom tools, or leverage existing tools, the following items should
be considered.
In-House Development
• Allocate ample time to working on requirements for usability,
functionality, and recruiting multiple user groups to get an
understanding of expected usage.
• Find an experienced partner. Attempt to procure the services of
a consultant who has performed similar work for other agencies.
Analysis tools may need customization and tailoring, but a proven
provider is often more reliable than a standard consultant.
• Recognize that initial startup will be costly. There are several
private-sector and university providers that have excellent archiving,
fusion, and analytics products. Some of these systems work across
borders and across multiple agencies. Consider adopting similar
technologies or products as neighboring jurisdictions when possible
so that shared experiences, knowledge, and benefits from shared
resources can be leveraged.
• Avoid “black box” solutions that do not explain the underlying
technologies, algorithms, or methods used to calculate the
performance measures. Ensure the chosen provider has documented
procedures that can be shared with software engineers and data
analysts. Some providers have multistate/agency steering committees
that collectively drive the features of the archive products to ensure
they are constantly meeting user needs.
Purchasing Tools
• More and more states and MPOs are starting to purchase probe-
based speed data; however, not as many agencies are investing in
tools to analyze the data that enables better decisions. Probe data
vendors, for example, have analytic tools that are sold at prices that
are less expensive than the effort needed to reproduce those tools
inside of the agency. These tools dramatically improve the

productivity of analysts by making the data much easier to analyze. In

addition, these tools provide capabilities to agencies that might have
previously taken months of effort to produce.
• Most vendors can provide return on investment (ROI) examples—
including case studies from previous applications—showing how
much money other organizations have been able to save by investing
in 3rd-party data analytics tools or 3rd-party data. The I-95
Corridor Coalition has produced these types of ROI documents for
its member agencies showing the benefits of some of their probe and
incident data analytics products. More information can be obtained at
www.i95coalition.org,
— or by reaching out to any 3rd-party data
provider.
Purchasing Services
• For agencies that are not comfortable using analytic tools and are not
interested in doing in-house data analysis, hiring outside consultants or
university support may prove to be a viable option. Consultants and
universities frequently have access to scientists, statisticians, database
programmers, economists, and other analysts that would otherwise be
difficult to hire at state and local agencies. When seeking out-of-agency
services, it is wise to review product and project portfolios for
examples of prior work to ensure an agency’s needs match the skills of
the consultant or university personnel being proposed on a project.
• When hiring outside support (consultant or universities), consider a
phased approach to projects. Start small, and ensure the consultant is
able to perform basic analysis and fusion tasks with the data available. If
the consultants are successful, then work can progress to bigger
analysis tasks—adding layers of complexity and building on prior work
and available data sets. Initiating extremely large analysis tasks that are
not easily broken down into smaller deliverables can be a recipe for
confusion, cost overruns, disappointment, and waste.
• Regardless of who does the work, it is advisable to avoid mandating that
consultants use specific tools, technologies, or techniques to deliver a
solution. New technologies, methodologies, and tools are developed
quickly and often. Requiring outdated technologies can result in
unnecessarily limiting the agency and the consultant in performing
analytical tasks. Allow the consultants to drive these decisions based on
what they perceive to be the most efficient and effective tools and
methods.


1. NCHRP Project 03-128, Business Intelligence Techniques for
Transportation Agency Decision Making (TRB, report forthcoming)
http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4
352
2. Development of a Travel-Time Reliability Measurement System
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2018)
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/research/reports/2018/201828.pdf
3. Implementation of Probe Data Performance Measures
(Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 2017)

Step 4.2
Establish Data Standards &
Formats
Take advantage of data standards. There are a number of data
standards that can be adopted for agency data sets and/or used when “The wonderful thing about
sharing transportation system performance data between agencies (see standards is that there are
Table 2). Some data standards cover data dictionary information (data so many of them to choose
elements and their definitions); others are more comprehensive and from.”
specify data formats, message structures, and technical mechanisms and
protocols for sharing. Grace Murray Hopper
Data standards can make sharing processes easier. However,

standardization should not be a prerequisite for sharing. It is more
beneficial to share non-standard data than to not share anything. While
standards are absolutely necessary in some instances (such as for vehicle-
to-vehicle safety communications), the use of standards can break down
in practice. Standards may become cumbersome because they try to
address every possible data element and use case, or alternatively,
standards are extended with custom fields and effectively lose the benefit
of being a standard.
Agencies may be asked to comply with a standard imposed by an external
entity as a condition for data sharing. This can have unintended
consequences if that standard requires data to be “dumbed down” to the
lowest common denominator to satisfy the needs of the external entity.
In order to comply with this standard and remain on budget, agencies
may permanently modify their data to match that standard and therefore
lose significant value of that data for future use.
This issue of standards becomes even more challenging when dealing with
big data. Unstructured data and crowdsourced data are rarely
standardized or clean, but still may have substantial value to an agency to
support TPM. The key to successful data sharing is to adhere to
standards when possible, but not at the cost of losing insight or capability
from non-standard data sets.

Table 2. Example data standards related to TPM.

Data Type Applicable Standards
Safety American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard D16
Manual on Classification of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes
Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC)
(https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/812433)
Model Inventory of Road Elements (MIRE)
(https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/downloads/fhwasa17048.pdf)
Pavement HPMS Field Manual—defines pavement data elements
Condition AASHTO Standard R43-13, Standard Specification for
Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing,
Standard Practice for Quantifying Roughness of Pavement
Bridge FHWA National Bridge Inspection Standards
Condition
System IEEE 1512-2006 Standard for Common Incident Management
Performance Message Sets for use by Emergency Management Centers
ITE TMDD 3.3 ITE TMDD Traffic Management Data Dictionary
(TMDD) Standard for Center to Center Communications
ASTM E2665-08 Standard Specifications for Archiving ITS-
Generated Traffic Monitoring Data
Other Open Geospatial Consortium—variety of standards for geospatial
data
All-Roads Network of Linearly Referenced Data (ARNOLD)
manual—provides guidance and best practices for building linear
referencing systems (LRS) covering all public roads
National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)—provides a
common vocabulary that enables efficient information exchange
across diverse public and private organizations.

Select file formats. Certain file formats have advantage over others
when it comes to sharing data between agencies. For example,
exchanging PDF files containing detour plans may make sense on an
individual case basis, but it significantly reduces the ability to automatically
process information and incorporate it in TPM processes. Ideally, data
should be formatted in a machine-readable format that provides the most
flexibility for integration in TPM tools.
Common data file formats found in open data platforms include JSON,
XML, CSV, and KML.

1. Open Geospatial Consortium
http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards
2. Project Open Data https://project-open-data.cio.gov/
3. General Transit Feed Specification http://gtfs.org/
4. National Information Exchange Model
https://www.niem.gov/
5. National Bridge Inventory Resources
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi.cfm
6. USDOT JPO ITS Standards Program
https://www.standards.its.dot.gov/
7. Manual on Classification of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes Eighth
Edition—ANSI D16 (Association of Transportation Safety Information
Professionals, 2017)
http://www.atsip.org/ANSI_Ver_2017_D16.pdf
8. HPMS Field Manual (FHWA, 2016)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/hpms/fieldmanual/
9. Traffic Monitoring Guide (FHWA, 2016)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/tmguide/tmg_fhwa_pl_17_00
3.pdf
10. All Roads Network of Linear Referenced Data (ARNOLD) Reference
Manual (FHWA, 2014)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/hpms/documents/arnold_refe
rence_manual_2014.pdf
11. AASHTO Standard R43-13, Standard Specification for Transportation
Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing, Standard Practice for
Quantifying Roughness of Pavement, 34th/2014 Edition (AASHTO, 2014)

Step 4.3
Publish Data
Designate authoritative data sources. Authoritative data sources for
performance measure calculation should have been established as part of
Step 1.3—Identify Analysis and Reporting Requirements. In preparation
for publication, it is also important to designate authoritative sources for
the computed performance measures and for any contextual data to be
provided in the reports. Only designated authoritative sources should be
used for reporting. Following this guideline will ensure that information
released to the public is consistent and quality-checked.
Determine what data to share. The growing “open data” movement
is creating the need for agencies to decide what data to proactively make
available to the public, what data to provide on request, and what data to
keep restricted. Several states have developed policy guidance on data
classification. For example, the District of Columbia defines five levels:
• Level 0—Open (the default classification)
• Level 1—Public, Not Proactively Released (e.g., due to potential
litigation risk or administrative burden)
• Level 2—For District Government Use (exempt from the
Freedom of Information Act but not confidential and of value
within the agency)
• Level 3—Confidential (sensitive or restricted from disclosure)
• Level 4—Restricted Confidential (unauthorized disclosure can
result in major damage or injury)
DC has adopted the philosophy that data should be open by default and
restricted only if there is a reason to do so.
Select data sharing methods. Sharing methods can vary from very
basic file transmission, such as FTP, to more complex asynchronous,
persistent transmission methods such as subscriptions, web services, and
others. Open data sharing platforms such as data.gov have been
established at the federal level and by many state agencies. While simple
methods may be quick and inexpensive to implement, they can, in some
situations, diminish the value of shared data. For example, files posted to
an FTP site once a day introduce unnecessary latency and reduce certain
TPM capabilities.

To support system performance management, agencies should strive to

share data in near real time and at the highest possible resolution in
order to provide the most flexibility and usefulness. For example, the
Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) allows external entities to
securely subscribe to their real-time operations data sharing interface,
which pushes incident information out to subscribers as it is entered by
operators into their Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) Case C
platform. This approach allows partners to integrate this data into their The Florida DOT created an
system and become aware of significant incidents as soon as they occur open data portal for sharing data
(as opposed to minutes or hours later). This is important because it both internally and with the
enables better real-time tracking of incident clearance times, responder public. Several FDOT business
activities, and other measures that are often requested by senior units had already begun to post
important data sets online at
managers. various web sites. The portal
Share data within the agency. Departments within agencies often provided a central location for
data sharing, making it easier for
invest in data collection and data services to satisfy specific needs. For people to locate available data.
example, operations groups may procure and install sensors to support
real-time operations. Planning groups may install different devices with a
slightly different configuration to support planning and modeling needs.
However, agencies frequently fail to evaluate existing investments within
the agency. For example, there could be significant overall cost savings if
agency departments evaluated existing data sets within the agency and
adjusted the existing configurations or agreements rather than going
through a completely separate procurement process. This is particularly
true for larger agencies
Share data with other agencies. Sharing data with other agencies
provides significant benefits to all parties, as well as the traveling public. Case F
Access to other agencies’ data allows a more holistic approach to TPM,
as well as better coordination in efforts to improve performance. Some The Metropolitan Area
of the challenges to sharing data with other agencies include data sharing Transportation Operations
Coordination (MATOC) Program
methods, formats, and agreements. enhanced real-time data sharing
It is also important for agencies to develop methods for the integration of among agencies. This allowed
agencies to become aware of
external data. Separating relevant data from noise is an important
incidents more quickly, to
exercise that can have a significant impact on TPM output. For example, respond more quickly, to clear
an agency integrating incident data from a neighboring agency may want the incident more quickly, to
to only focus on external incidents close to the border, major regional alert travelers more quickly, and
incidents, or external incidents that may have an impact on the agency’s to develop standard operating
procedures (SOPs) that account
area of responsibility. This means that for TPM purposes, the agency must
for impacts of regional and cross-
develop a policy for identifying incidents of significance to the agency and jurisdictional events.
its system while avoiding the trap of throwing away too much data that
may be of use in the future.

Sharing data with the public. Public agencies have a responsibility to

provide best possible service to their customers: the general traveling
public. One component of this responsibility is sharing of agency’s
performance with the public. While some data elements may be sensitive,
most transportation data can be shared to better inform the public
regarding system performance. In addition to open data, agencies can
provide easily digestible and interactive reports regarding system
performance.
One challenge with open data is that it is exposed to a general public that
has varying levels of understanding of raw data. This can lead to distorted
interpretation of data. While this is a real challenge, it should not be a
barrier to sharing data with the public. Agencies can provide metadata,
documentation, and sample applications to help users better understand
raw data and its potential uses.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) allow users to develop their
own data ingestion and processing applications and add value to existing
data sets. In order for the agency to effectively distribute information, it
must be able to share data via APIs for integration with other applications
and systems. For example, the City of Chicago publishes APIs for
historical congestion estimates, average daily traffic counts, and other
TPM-related data sets. Similarly, the New York State DOT publishes APIs
for historical traffic and transit events across the state and New York
City.
Consider data sharing agreements. When agencies share data with
each other, there is frequently a need for some type of an agreement or
memorandum of understanding. Interagency agreements—especially
those between states—have sometimes been difficult to negotiate
because of governing law language and other restrictive terms and
conditions. Because of this, many agencies are now opting to make their
data “open” to the public—eliminating the need for data sharing
agreements. Other agencies opt for informal, hand-shake agreements.
Informal agreements can work well, though agencies with significant staff
turnover will want to document any agreements in place.
Investigate public–private data sharing arrangements. Over the
last decade, the private sector has emerged as an important partner
when it comes to transportation data to support TPM. Private-sector
data providers have been able to leverage technology and innovation in
ways that public agencies are often unable to do. The concept of sharing
data with the private sector has become both more important and more

prevalent in recent years. Not only are agencies benefiting from obtaining
new data sets from the private sector, but they are also benefiting from
the private-sector value-add to the existing agency data sets. Case D
Agencies must be careful about negotiating data sharing contracts with The I-95 Corridor Coalition
private-sector entities. In particular, agencies should pay particular collaboratively developed a public–
attention to data use restrictions and seek maximum flexibility in use of private partnership between
data. This includes the ability to share data with universities and partner member agencies and 3rd-party
data providers to take advantage
agencies and the ability to generate and share reports and summaries of the latest private sector data
with the general public. Agencies, in turn, should treat the private sector offerings. They created a liberal
as equal partners who can assist in disseminating information to the and flexible model data use
public and providing valuable insight in customers’ behavior and travel agreement that has become the
patterns. “gold standard” for agencies and
consortiums across the country
Provide tools for easy data access. Data has little value if it is not for over a decade.
easily accessible. With continued improvement in bandwidth capabilities,
web-based tools and data portals are becoming the norm. These tools
allow users to log in and access data from anywhere with an internet
connection. In addition to web-based access, the user interface and
efficiency of the applications are critical. Poor user interfaces can make it
difficult to understand what data and capabilities are available. Similarly,
executing a query on a data set and waiting several hours or even days to
receive an answer is unacceptable. Users must be able to quickly define a
question and receive a response to make data and information useful.
This means that agencies need to go beyond establishing databases or big
data platforms and ensure that appropriate tools exist to access, visualize,
and manipulate data for TPM. In many cases, more than one type of tool
will be required to meet the needs and skill sets of different types of
users. For example, some agencies make available one reporting package
for technical staff and “power users” and a second for more casual users.


1. Data Presentation on Transportation Agency Websites:
Trends and Best Practices (Caltrans, 2017)
http://transweb.sjsu.edu/sites/default/files/1501-data-
presentation-on-transportation-agency-websites-trends-and-
best-practices.pdf
2. Uses of Geospatial Applications for Transportation
Performance Management (FHWA, 2016)
https://www.gis.fhwa.dot.gov/documents/Uses_of_Geospatial_
Applications_for_Transportation_Performance_Management_
Case_Studies.pdf
3. State of the Practice on Data Access, Sharing, and Integration
(FHWA, 2016)
4. NCHRP Synthesis 460: Sharing Operations Data Among
Agencies (Transportation Research Board of the National
Academies, 2014)
http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/170868.aspx
5. Geospatial Tools for Data Sharing: Case Studies of Select
Transportation Agencies (FHWA, 2014)

Capabilities Checklist: Share Data

Basic
o Employees are aware of key performance data sources within the Do’s and Don’ts
agency. Do:
o There are clear agency policies in place that data should be shared
 Strive to open your data up
unless the need to protect it is demonstrated. to partner agencies and the
o There are protocols defined for how to share data to meet different public.
needs that consider use of state and federal open data portals and  Make sure that your data sets
hosted or cloud solutions. are ready to be shared by
o Open data portals are used to share data. putting in place some
standard criteria (no sensitive
o Data explanations are provided in “plain English” to help users information, passed basic
understand meaning, sources, and limitations. quality review, from an
authoritative source, etc.)
Advancing  Treat other agencies as
partners with whom you
o Data governance and stewardship structures have been established to want to share your data so
facilitate communication about data sharing and identify opportunities that you can improve systems
for synergies across business units for collaborating or combining data safety and reliability.
sources.  Put your data into standard
o Data sharing agreements are used (internal to an agency and between formats when it is simple and
improves upon your
an agency and its partners) that specify what data will be shared,
capabilities.
when and how it will be shared, and establish a clear understanding of
data limitations and expectations for use. Don’t:
o Data are shared in formats that are designed to meet the needs of  Assume a one-size-fits-all data
different users, which may include standard reports, data feeds, and feed will work for both the
dashboards. public and your agency
partners.
o Data with sensitive elements are sanitized for public distribution.  Sign data sharing agreements
o Data contracts and sharing agreements are reviewed to ensure that with restrictive “governing
agency flexibility is retained. law” language.
 Let a lack of standardization
become an excuse for not
sharing data.

Insight

Step 5
Analyze & Use Data
The Analyze & Use step begins once data are
“Distinguishing the signal from
converted into information. Data consist of values and the noise requires both scientific
figures that on their own have limited value. knowledge and self-knowledge;
the serenity to accept the things
Information is a result of data that have been processed, we cannot predict, the courage
organized, and interpreted to provide insight. Analyzing to predict the things we can, and
the wisdom to know the
and using data for TPM involves consumption of data difference.”
by analysts, planners, managers, engineers, and
Nate Silver
operations personnel to inform decision making or
direct real-time system management. In the Store &
Manage step, reporting and analysis tools are selected
and configured. In the Analyze & Use step, these
tools are used to support decision making. Moving
from installation of a tool to productive use of the tool
requires, at a minimum, the following:
• Identification of the intended users and uses for the
tool;
• Designation of one or more individuals to develop
specialized expertise with the tool (or engagement
of a consultant to play this role);
• Training and support for additional users of the
tool; and
• Iterative application and adjustment to tool
parameters and configuration.

Step 5.1
Analyze Trends
Assemble data. Assemble historical performance data for as many Case E
years as possible. If there have been changes to measurement methods,
document when these occurred, but do not discard the older data. Even Maryland SHA used an incident
if there are discontinuities in the trend line, each section of the line can timeline tool and graphics
still be instructive for understanding how performance changed within showing queue buildups and delay
each applicable time period. costs to help convince the
responder community to change
Review and analyze the data. Plot the data to visualize variations over its policies for blocking lanes.
time. If appropriate, apply smoothing techniques such as moving averages
to reduce noise. Use statistical techniques to distinguish the underlying
trends in the data from seasonal variations and one-off variations due to
events or other exogenous factors. Involve someone with expertise in
statistics to be sure that the methods being applied are valid for the data
being analyzed.

1. “Time-Series Review of Highway Performance Monitoring System
Data,” Transportation Research Record (TRB, 2018)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0361198118767415
2. Applying Safety Data and Analysis to Performance-Based
Transportation Planning (FHWA, 2015)
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/tsp/fhwasa15089/data_anl.pdf
3. Silver, N. The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions
Fail—But Some Don't (Penguin Books, 2012)
4. Trends in Non-Fatal Traffic Injuries 1996-2005 (NHTSA, 2008)

Step 5.2
Identify Patterns & Causes
Visualize data. Many people think of visualization as an end product— Case A
something produced after an analysis is complete to help communicate
the results (or a story) to the public. While this is often the case,
visualization can also be leveraged during the analysis life cycle as a way to Arizona found in its Long-Range
Transportation Plan process
better understand what is in your data, to identify outliers, and even to that for some performance areas,
point out flaws that exist in your data. Interactive visual analytics can lead good outcome-oriented
to insights earlier in the TPM process, sometimes more so than at the performance curves can be
end. established. Where this was not
possible, however, ADOT relied
Interpret data. Involve a group of experienced analysts in interpreting on simple curves reflecting the
the observed trends. Look for correlations between performance trends percent of identified needs met at
and factors such as changes in revenues or budget allocations, fuel prices, a given allocation level. The
lesson was to “not let the perfect
economic conditions, or legislation/regulation. Use statistical packages
become the enemy of the good.”
and available analytical tools to analyze correlations. Develop insights that
can be communicated to stakeholders (see Step 6—Present &
Communicate Data.)

1. Approaches to Presenting External Factors with Operations
Performance Measures (FHWA, 2018)
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop18002/fhwahop1800
2.pdf
2. Historical Performance Evaluation of Iowa Pavement Treatments
Using Data Analytics (Midwest Transportation Center, 2017)
https://intrans.iastate.edu/app/uploads/2018/03/iowa_pvmt_tx_hist
orical_perfomance_eval_using_data_analytics_w_cvr.pdf
3. An Analysis of the Significant Decline in Motor Vehicle Traffic
Fatalities in 2008 (NHTSA, 2010)

Step 5.3
Predict Future
Performance
Create predictive models. Develop realistic assumptions about future
work based on available revenues, program budgets, and improvement Case B
programs. Use available analytical tools to predict future performance
based on funding levels and/or specification of planned improvements. Caltrans developed a unified
These include pavement and bridge management systems, safety analysis approach to presenting
tools, travel demand models, and other specialized simulation tools. In predictions of asset performance
and need that combined results
addition, predictive analytics tools are available that make use of a variety
from mature pavement and
of statistical techniques, including machine learning to predict future bridge management system runs
performance based on available data. with analytical methods based on
available data and expert
Applying analytical tools typically involves initial calibration—adjusting judgement for other assets. The
model parameters so that predictions are in line with observed approach involved combining data
conditions. This is followed by an iterative process of testing different from multiple disparate data
assumptions and reviewing results for reasonableness. Every model has sources that were at different
limitations; it is the role of an analyst to understand and explain these levels of completeness and based
on different analysis
limitations. methodologies at varying levels of
Predictive models generally require specialized expertise to set up and sophistication.
use. Significant modeling tasks can be outsourced if this expertise is not
available in-house. However, staff with analytical skills, patience, and
interest in modeling can be trained to take on ownership and apply these
tools as well as oversee work of contractors.
There are variations in available predictive tools for different
performance areas, and it can take time to develop robust modeling
capabilities. Agencies can start with basic approaches to prediction that
rely on expert judgment and rules of thumb. As long as methods are
clearly documented and caveats are stated, these approaches can provide
value.


1. FHWA Pavement Management Quarterly Webinar—
Pavement Performance Modelling (2018)
https://connectdot.connectsolutions.com/p9octngm9vv9/
2. Bhavsar, P., Safro, I, Bouaynaya, N., Polikar, R., & Dera, D.
“Machine Learning in Transportation Data Analytics,” Data
Analytics for Intelligent Transportation Systems, pp 283-307
(Elsevier Inc., 2017)
3. Predicting Travel Time Reliability Using Mobile Phone GPS Data
(Microsoft Research, 2016)
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/
uploads/2016/11/GPS_flow_sensing_travel_times.pdf
4. Paz, A., Veeramisti, N., & de La Fuente-Mella, H. Forecasting
Performance Measures for Traffic Safety Using Deterministic
and Stochastic Models (IEEE, 2015)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308864167_Forecasting_
performance_measures_for_traffic_safety_using_deterministic_
and_stochastic_models

Step 5.4
Establish/Update Targets
Integrate results of trend analysis and predictive analysis. Case A
Establish a baseline value based on the trend line. Integrate the results of
trend analysis and performance predictions to set targets for future Arizona DOT’s Long-Range Plan
performance. process developed performance
curves for different investment
Document the analysis. Documentation should include data sources, categories, including preservation,
the steps taken to prepare and combine them, any key assumptions or modernization, and capacity.
parameters used (e.g., inflation rates), and observations about data These curves were used to
anomalies or correlations. Good documentation will enable the analysis analyze the impacts of a change in
process to be repeated in the future by other staff members and will investment on different
performance outcomes.
serve as a valuable resource if questions come up about the results.

1. Safety Target Setting Factsheet (Arkansas Department of
Transportation, 2018) http://www.tpm-portal.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/02/ARDOT-Target-Setting-Safety.pdf
2. Safety Performance Management Targets for 2018 (California
Department of Transportation/Office of Traffic Safety, 2018)
http://www.dot.ca.gov/fed-liaison/docs/Safety-Performance-
Management-Targets-for-2018.pdf
3. Performance Management Target Setting Webinar—Pavement
and Bridge (PM2) (California Department of Transportation,
2018)
http://www.dot.ca.gov/assetmgmt/documents/Webinar_Slides.pdf
4. NCHRP Report 706: Uses of Risk Management and Data
Management to Support Target-Setting for Performance-Based
Resource Allocation by Transportation Agencies (Transportation
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_706.pdf
5. NCHRP Report 666: Target-Setting Methods and Data
Management to Support Performance-Based Resource Allocation
by Transportation Agencies: Volume I: Research Report: Volume
II; Guide for Target-Setting and Data Management (Transportation
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_666.pdf

Capabilities Checklist: Analyze & Use

Data
Basic Do’s and Don’ts
o Analysts are aware of and taking advantage of existing commercial off- Do:
the-shelf, open source, and publicly available tools for analysis,  Begin to analyze and visualize
visualization, forecasting, and scenario analysis. available data to help uncover
o Analysts are trained in use of data analysis and visualization tools. potential quality issues.
o Private-sector or university contractors are used to provide data  Document your analysis process
analysis services as alternatives to setting up analysis capabilities in- so that someone else could trace
your steps in the future.
house.
 Explore 3rd-party tools to get
o Data are available that are sufficiently accurate to meet analysis your agency up and running
requirements. quickly with data analytics
o Visualization and analysis tools are used to explore and discover data capabilities.
anomalies and limitations.  Invest in developing in-house
o Data preparation and analysis tasks are well defined and planned to analysis capabilities or, if that
isn’t feasible, engage consultants
ensure sufficient calendar time and staff resources. that specialize in data analysis.
o Analysts are able to identify trends and causal factors.  Treat your consultants as
o Data element meanings, data transformations, and analysis trusted team members.
assumptions are documented. Don’t:
Advancing  Wait until all of your data is

“cleaned” or perfect before
o Predictive models for key transportation performance measures are beginning an analysis.
validated based on multiple cycles of application.  Build an analysis tool in-house
o Targets are established based on predictive analysis relating revenues unless you are sure about what
you are getting into and you are
and programmed work to performance results. confident that you will have staff
o Data mining is conducted to support “back-casting”—which involves to support the tool in the future.
starting with a future vision and analyzing current and historical data  Be so detailed and stringent in
to estimate changes required to move from the current situation to your analysis requirements that
the future vision. costs escalate out of control.
 Just go with your current on-call
o Cooperative arrangements across agencies have been established to
consultant or low-bid contractor
transform data into information (e.g., the state DOT performs (if they aren’t data analysis
analysis of travel-time reliability, computes measures for each facility, experts).
and provides the data for use by MPOs and local agencies).
o Predictive analytics and machine learning techniques are applied for
predicting asset failure probabilities and other performance measures.

Step 6
Present & Communicate
Data
The Present & Communicate step involves developing “The greatest value of a
picture is when it forces us
effective ways of communicating the message and story to notice what we never
behind the data. expected to see.”
John Tukey
The process of communicating performance results is
likely to lead to questions about the data and analysis.
Data analysts should anticipate that there will be
iteration between the communication and analysis
steps. The need for data improvement or
augmentation may also be identified as new questions
arise. Over time, these improvements will strengthen
the agency’s ability to make effective use of data to
improve performance.

Step 6.1
Develop & Communicate
Performance Stories
Tell the story. Once data are successfully translated into information, it
Case H
is important to provide context and the “so what” surrounding that
information. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this is through New Jersey DOT developed
a storytelling approach. Information consumers (the audience) must buy project assessment summary
into the story for the information to be effective. The focus of the story pamphlets that tell a compelling
must not be on data and information, but on the message that the story about how investment in a
information is supporting. For example, when the New Jersey project benefitted the general
public.
Department of Transportation and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning
Commission were trying to convey the importance of specific roadway
projects to senior managers and public officials, they were challenged to
communicate about complex performance measures related to reliability,
safety, congestion trends, economic impacts, and more.
After many unsuccessful attempts at producing thorough reports for
decision makers, they tried an information visualization approach. They In 2012, an article in Governing
developed “elevator pitch” brochures that conveyed, primarily through magazine reported, “The [Gray]
Notebook tells Washington
graphics, the performance measures related to individual projects. The citizens pretty much whatever
visualizations contained within the brochures could be easily interpreted they might want to know about
by both engineers and the public. Accompanying narratives were short, how their transportation system
and the brevity of the brochures meant that more people ultimately read is working.…The first Gray
and understood the message. Notebook—as it came to be
called because of the color of its
When making a new investment in sensor infrastructure to support TPM, cover—was published in 2001,
the message should not be that 200 more sensors will provide more data and legislators loved it. Two
years later, those legislators
about congestion. Instead, the message should be that the new sensors approved a 5-cent increase in
will allow operators to more quickly identify traffic slowdowns, which will the gas tax to fund new
enable signal timing changes to ensure that inbound commuters make it transportation projects.”
to work on time. The audience must be able to relate to the outcomes
and understand how they are being affected by changes in performance of
the system.

Communicate with visualizations. Information visualization is critical

Case A
in supporting successful data presentation and communication;
visualization is used to help people understand and interpret the data.
Arizona’s 2040 Long-Range
Human perceptual skills are remarkable—we can identify trends, clusters, Transportation Plan broke new
gaps, and outliers extremely quickly. The presentation of data and ground in its methods for aligning
information in a visual way should be easily processed to identify the Arizona stakeholders’ priorities
primary message. Some of the visualizations frequently used in TPM due with competing 25-year
transportation needs. ADOT
to their simplicity and effectiveness include heat maps, timelines,
innovated by using a multi-
choropleths, arc diagrams, etc., but there are hundreds of visualization objective decision analysis
strategies, methods, and devices that can be leveraged, depending on the software platform with intuitive
analysis or communication need. visual elements like slider bars,
dashboards, and data
But just as visualizations can be powerful in communicating a message, visualizations that helped
they can also often be misleading. It is critically important to be stakeholders see the
consistent in presenting information to avoid introducing a bias to the consequences of alternate funding
user. There are many known data visualization approaches that can skew choices on performance
outcomes.
the message—truncating Y-axes, omitting data, correlating causation, and
many others. In order to present information in the most objective way,
it is important to provide the methodology, definitions, metadata, and any
other contextual information.

1. Communicating Performance (AASHTO)
http://communicatingperformance.com/
2. The Colorado Transportation Story
https://www.codot.gov/programs/colorado-transportation-
matters/statewide-transportation-plans/statewide-transportation-
plans
3. Visualization and Communication in Pavement Performance
(Midwest Transportation Center, 2018)
4. NCHRP Web-Only Document 226: Data Visualization Methods
for Transportation Agencies (TRB, 2016)
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24755/data-visualization-methods-
for-transportation-agencies
5. “Truth, Transparency and Transportation,” Governing Magazine,
September 13, 2012 http://www.governing.com/blogs/bfc/col-
washington-state-transportation-gray-notebook-transparency.html
6. Tufte, E. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (Graphics
Press, 2001)

Capabilities Checklist: Present &

Communicate Data Do’s and Don’ts
Basic Do:
o Managers and analysts meet to review and interpret performance  Leverage visualization tools
for your data analysis and for
results.
communicating TPM to the
o Story lines for performance results are developed, reviewed, and public and decision makers.
communicated.  Employ “best practices” in
o Training is offered to internal staff to build skills in data presentation visualization that aim to
and communication. communicate with users, not
o Staff have capabilities to present data in a variety of formats tailored deceive them.
to the needs of different audiences, including heat maps, thematic  Leverage 3rd-party
visualization tools and/or
maps, timelines, and other infographics. professionals to support your
o A combination of narrative and graphical presentation is used to analysis.
communicate performance information.  Use visualization to support
your narrative.
Advancing Don’t:
o Feedback from data consumers is sought and used to improve  Wait until the end of your
communication of information to different target audiences. project to begin to interpret
o Individuals with expertise in data visualization and communication are the results.
available to support development of performance data products.  Use all the bells and whistles
in a chart or visualization
o Social media is used to communicate key results or draw people to tool; clean and simple
more detailed communication products. graphics tell compelling
o Specialized visualization and analysis environments have been stories.
developed—e.g., virtual reality simulators.  Try to be too complicated
with your visualizations;
you’re trying to tell a story,
not confuse people.
 Expect visualization alone to
tell your story; some
supplemental explanatory
text will be required.

Cases

Cases
Case A
Arizona DOT Long-Range Plan

Investment Trade-offs
Like many states, Arizona has a gap between the
transportation needs of its growing population and
funding available to pay for those needs. Consequently,
Arizona DOT (ADOT) and its stakeholders must make
difficult trade-offs across transportation investment
priorities. This case shows how ADOT utilized data to
make these trade-offs as part of its What Moves You
Arizona 2040 Long-Range Statewide Transportation
Plan update (LRSTP or 2040 Plan). The 2040 Plan
process used decision science techniques in
combination with stakeholder engagement to quantify
the likely performance outcomes of several investment
scenarios designed by ADOT staff and stakeholders.
This process guided the selection of a recommended
investment choice (RIC) for the plan, which has
provided the starting point to invest approximately a
billion dollars a year in alignment with consensus
transportation priorities of Arizona’s citizens and
businesses.


Overview
Arizona’s LRSTP four-step planning process relied equally on data, public
engagement, and use of multi-objective decision analysis (MODA) Multi-Objective Decision
software. First, it mined rich engineering data about capital and operating Analysis (MODA)
needs and revenues. Second, it used these data within a public
Multi-objective decision analysis
engagement process to identify stakeholder goals and priorities. Third, it (MODA) is a tool for resolving
used the MODA software to enable stakeholders to explore resource allocation problems
performance projections of Arizona’s future transportation safety, where choices involve trade-offs
congestion, and infrastructure condition under various alternate among competing objectives that
feature sacrifice of one objective
transportation futures propelled by divergent investment strategies.
for the sake of another. MODA
Finally, it used stakeholder input to inform a recommended investment uses data about stakeholders’
strategy. preferences and decision
outcomes to guide selection of
Foundation: Specify & Define Data optimum choices. Initially, the
relative importance ascribed by
Estimates of capital and operating needs by transportation stakeholders to different choices
investment category. Arizona Department of Transportation oversees is scored using weighting
a statewide system of major highways and supports transit, rail, aviation, techniques. Subsequently,
and non-motorized transportation facilities around the state. The 2040 outcomes of different choices
are evaluated in terms of their
Plan used established data sources and modeling tools such as FHWA’s relative alignment with
Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), National Bridge stakeholders’ priorities to arrive
Investment Analysis System (NBIAS), and Highway Economic at an optimum solution.
Requirements System—State Version (HERS-ST) to document $89.5
billion in baseline 25-year needs for all of the state’s major transportation
investment categories:
• Preservation investment needs to maintain pavement and bridges in
good repair;
• Modernization investment needs for upgrades like safety
improvements and intelligent transportation systems;
• Expansion investment needs for added lanes, new roadway
alignments, or interchanges;
• Operations and maintenance investment needs for routine work,
like patching potholes, fixing guardrails, mowing, and snow removal;
and
• Non-highway investment needs for transit, rail, non-motorized, and
aviation modes.
These estimates were derived from segment-by-segment data and
analysis of all engineering work needed to achieve and maintain an
acceptable level of performance throughout the state for each major
investment category. In combination with funding information, they

Cases
provided a baseline indicator of the potential investment trade-offs

Arizona faces: highway revenue forecasts suggested that $23 billion
would be available over the 2040 Plan’s 25-year time horizon compared
to $53 billion in highway needs.
Statewide transportation system goals and performance
outcome measures. Building on information developed about the
state’s transportation needs, ADOT—with extensive input from its
stakeholders—set broad goals for the state’s transportation system in
2040 and measurable yardsticks for gauging progress toward them:
• Improve mobility, reliability, and accessibility. Implement
critical/cost-effective investments to improve access to multimodal
transportation and optimize mobility and reliability for passengers and
freight. (Measures: congestion, speed, travel delay)
• Preserve and maintain the system. Maintain, preserve, and extend
the service life of existing and future state transportation system
infrastructure. (Measures: pavement and bridge deficiencies;
maintenance spending)
• Enhance safety. Continue to improve and advocate for
transportation system safety for all modes. (Measures: fatalities and
serious injuries)
Stakeholders’ relative priorities for these three transportation system-
related goals helped inform the build-out of possible scenarios for
investment across major investment categories like preservation,
modernization, and expansion. The measures associated with each goal
provided the basis for comparison of each scenario’s system performance
outcomes and its consequences for spending trade-offs.
Insight: Analyze & Use, Present & Communicate Data

Stakeholders’ priorities and scenarios for Arizona’s future
transportation performance. The 2040 Plan broke new ground in its
methods for aligning Arizona stakeholders’ priorities with competing 25-
year transportation needs. ADOT innovated by using a MODA software
platform with intuitive interface elements like slider-bars, dashboards, and
data visualizations that helped stakeholders see the consequences of
alternate funding choices on performance outcomes. Importantly, the
software does not pick the “best” investment strategy; rather it allows
users to compare strategies and choose which one they like best based
on data about performance outcomes. Both stakeholders and staff at
ADOT were enthusiastic about the software’s ability to show


performance trade-offs in real time as users moved funding from one

investment area to another.
The MODA software was customized with Arizona-specific
“performance curve” algorithms for each investment need category,
including preservation, modernization, and capacity. 1 The curves show
how a rise or fall in spending changes performance outcomes. ADOT
invested considerable effort in deriving each curve by processing raw
transportation data that depicted performance outcomes at different
spending levels to establish generalized rules. In the preservation
category, for example, pavement and bridge curve algorithms were built
from outputs of infrastructure management system data. In the capacity
category, the performance curve algorithm was derived from projected
changes in delay and reliability as sets of proposed projects are built.
Through a series of workshops and webinars, ADOT used the decision-
support software to develop several distinct “alternative investment
choice” scenarios that showed how different spending strategies might
affect the state’s transportation system performance:
• “Current Plan” Investment Scenario. ADOT projected future
performance based on continuation of current capital spending
without any changes.
• “Agency Plan” Investment Scenario. ADOT used an interactive
process to discuss ADOT staff and outside stakeholders’ preferences
for investment (gathered via a webinar and an in-person workshop).
Through this process, a consensus based on projections of future
performance relative to a baseline was developed about allocation of
resources.
• Public Investment Scenario. ADOT used MetroQuest, a web-based
public engagement software platform, to gather general public input on
highway investment priorities. Nearly 6,000 individuals provided their
opinions about transportation priorities and potential trade-offs.
Arizona’s recommended investment choice (RIC). At the
culmination of ADOT’s 2040 Plan process, the three scenarios developed
during the planning process informed the 2040 Plan’s RIC (as shown in
1
Because annual operations spending levels are determined independently by the
Arizona legislature and ADOT does not have the ability to allocate these funds to
highway capital spending, Operation and Maintenance needs were excluded from the
scenarios.

Cases
Figure 4) by providing a sense of different stakeholders’ priorities for use

of ADOT resources and the projected performance outcomes associated
with them. The combination of data, tools for projecting future needs,
public engagement, and MODA in the scenario development process
helped build support for tough trade-off decisions about limiting
expansion spending to avoid a future decline in system preservation
performance.
Figure 4. Annual funding levels—Arizona Long-Range Plan recommended

investment choice (RIC).
Development of RIC using scenarios and MODA tools engaged

stakeholders in Arizona in new ways and educated them about the
importance of thinking about priority weighting, measures of
performance, the necessity of trade-offs, and target setting. Based on the
successful application of these techniques for the 2040 Plan, a similar
MODA-based process will likely be used for translating What Moves You
Arizona 2040 into ADOT’s programming process.
Success Factors
Using a MODA-based scenario approach for long-range planning helped
ADOT achieve a more informed recommendation for how to allocate
scarce transportation funding in the future. Success factors included:


• Taking advantage of available data sets and tools. HPMS,

NBIAS, HERS-ST, and asset management systems were used to create
projections of future performance under varying investment levels.
• Incremental approach. ADOT recognized that advancement in
analysis capabilities would be an incremental process. The agency was
able to establish outcome-oriented performance curves for certain
investment areas (e.g., expansion, preservation). For investment areas
where ADOT could not develop outcome-oriented curves, it based
the curves on the percentage of identified needs met at a given
allocation level (e.g., safety, technology). While the methodologies for
the curves differed, the resulting analysis was still valuable in informing
investment decisions.
• Interactive analysis. ADOT provided interactive tools that enabled
stakeholders to explore implications of different investment strategies.
Stakeholders and staff alike benefitted from the ability to see
information about performance trade-offs in real time as they
collaborated to explore shifts in funding from one investment area to
another.
• Opening up the black box. The interactive process educated
stakeholders about the impacts of various model parameters and
assumptions; for example, in the ADOT MODA tool, performance
curves, performance thresholds, and criteria weights were key drivers
of the results.
• A data-informed decision-making philosophy. ADOT
recognized and acknowledged that decisions are informed—not made
—by the data and analysis results. Communicating this philosophy
alleviated stakeholder concerns that the analysis did not consider
other non-quantifiable factors.
Challenges & Lessons

Communicating with stakeholders. Key challenges and lessons
learned were related to communicating technical information to
stakeholders in a clear and succinct manner and making sure they
understood definitions, implications of assumptions, and limitations of the
analysis:
• During the 2040 Plan development, some stakeholders were confused
about the difference between “preservation” and routine “operations and
maintenance.” This may have led to preservation being
underweighted.
• Many participants struggled with the pairwise comparison, which asks
a respondent to identify the relative priority between two different

Cases
investment options and served as the basis for criteria weighting. This
was either because they were not comfortable with some of the For more information...
comparisons (e.g., how can you compare preservation and safety), or • Arizona Long Range Statewide
because they simply did not understand its purpose. Transportation Plan
• The MODA approach did not enable users to consider synergies in https://www.azdot.gov/planning/
spending, such as the benefits to safety or mobility that might come transporation-programs/state-
long-range-transportation-plan
from increased preservation spending. Integrating consideration of • Arizona DOT Point of Contact:
investment synergies across performance areas is an area identified for Statewide Planning Manager
future improvement.


Case B
Caltrans State Highway System

Management Plan
Caltrans developed an integrated State Highway
System Management Plan (SHSMP) that summarizes
conditions of existing transportation assets,
communicates funding needs, and details projected
funding levels. The plan addresses an extensive array of
asset types, two different major investment programs,
and forty different subprograms. This case illustrates
how data across different sources at different levels of
completeness can be integrated and put on a
comparable footing for analysis and presentation.

Cases
Overview
At Caltrans, capital projects to preserve, rehabilitate, or replace existing
transportation assets are included in the State Highway Operations and
Protection Program (SHOPP). Caltrans manages a separate Highway
Maintenance (HM) program for smaller maintenance projects. Together
the annual budgets for these programs are projected to total over $4
billion per year over the next 10 years.
The California Streets and Highways Code requires Caltrans to prepare
periodic updates to its SHOPP and HM programs. Historically these
updates were made separately, in some cases drawing upon different data
sources. In 2017, Caltrans developed a new, integrated SHSMP that
incorporates state requirements for preparation of both a ten-year plan
for the SHOPP and five-year HM plan. The SHSMP (shown in Figure 5)
includes a Needs Assessment and Investment Plan to help guide the
management of the state highway system and related infrastructure. The
plan covers thirty-four different SHOPP subprograms and six
maintenance subprograms. These subprograms address physical assets
including but not limited to
• pavement
• bridges
• drainage systems
• lighting
• signage
• guardrail
• transportation management systems
• water/wastewater treatment
• rest areas
• facilities
Foundation: Specify & Define, Obtain Data

Data for the SHSMP were obtained from several different sources. For
major assets (pavement and bridge), Caltrans has well-defined
management systems and analytical processes. For selected assets (e.g.,
traffic management systems), Caltrans has established asset inventory
databases but no formal analytical processes. For other assets (e.g.,
drainage systems), Caltrans has partial inventory information and relies
on a sample of the inventory together with estimates of the extent of
missing data to determine the overall size of the inventory.


Figure 5. Caltrans SHSMP. (Courtesy of California

Department of Transportation)
Reporting: Store Data

To facilitate development of the 2017 SHSMP, Caltrans requested data
from asset data owners in whatever format was available and then
developed a standardized means for representing data on the asset
inventory, its condition, and investment needs. This standard
representation was implemented in a spreadsheet, with separate sheets
for each investment sub-program. Figure 6, reproduced from the SHSMP,
illustrates the format used for summarizing and reporting the data. The
summary view includes 13 distinct sections, including the asset inventory,
projected inventory, predicted investment level, and total investment
need.

Cases
A. Current inventory of physical assets

B. Projected future inventory of physical assets
C. Annual deterioration rates used to calculate projected condition
D. Current condition of physical assets
E. Projected future condition of physical assets (do-nothing scenario)
F. Asset quantities from work in the pipeline
G. Performance targets (not constrained)
H. Performance gaps
I. Average unit costs for repair and associated support ratio
J. Dollar value of unfunded future commitments
K. Dollar value necessary to close the performance gap
L. Total need to achieve the performance target
M. District level breakdown of inventory, gaps and needs
Figure 6. A SHSMP summary sheet with sections labeled. (Courtesy of California Department
of Transportation)



A critical step in developing the integrated SHSMP was establishing a
common approach to characterizing asset conditions and investment
needs across investment areas and asset types. This was needed both to
help communicate the plan and to standardize the analysis approach to
allow for meaningful comparisons across the different areas. A
complicating factor was that in some cases, such as for pavement,
Caltrans had already implemented a sophisticated approach to predicting
conditions and establishing needs, while in other cases such an approach
had not yet been implemented.
Caltrans’ approach to this step was to define criteria for good, fair, and
poor condition for each asset/investment type and then characterize
existing conditions in these terms. In some cases, such as where an
asset’s condition is assessed strictly in terms of age (e.g., for traffic
management systems), the approach was further simplified to include
good and poor conditions only.
Caltrans staff then established, for each asset/investment category, the
likelihood of deterioration from good condition to fair condition (or
poor, if fair is not defined) and from fair condition to poor condition (if
fair condition is defined). For cases where a formalized management
system had been established, these values were calculated based on
model runs from the existing system. Alternatively, staff established the
values based on supplemental analysis and/or expert judgment. Figure 7
shows an example of this calculation for bridges. Here 75 percent of the
existing inventory is in good condition, and 0.45 percent is expected to
drop to fair condition annually. An additional 22 percent is in fair
condition, and 0.75 percent of these assets are expected to drop to poor
condition annually.

Cases
Figure 7. Example representation of good/fair/poor condition and

predicted deterioration. (Courtesy of California Department of
Transportation)
With this representation, future conditions at the end of a 10-year period

can be approximated based on initial conditions, expected budget, and
the average treatment cost in fair and poor condition. Caltrans
performed this calculation for each asset/investment area to predict
future conditions and needs. The end result was the development of an
integrated plan using a common, easily communicated representation to
establish and illustrate expected investment levels over a wide range of
assets and investment areas in two different funding programs.


Success Factors
• Alignment between analysis and available data. The investment
categories in Caltrans’ SHOPP and maintenance programs are well
defined, and in many cases they are aligned with specific asset classes.
This simplified the process of determining what data were needed to
develop the SHSMP and help address the organization of data in the
plan.
• Common performance measures across assets. Development
of a common approach for analyzing and summarizing asset/investment
data was a critical step in preparing an integrated plan. One key insight
was that using a simplified approach to presenting data (e.g.,
good/fair/poor asset conditions) allowed for an effective means to
summarize data in cases where a more complicated approach was
used for analysis while also providing a basic analytical approach in
cases where only summary data were available on the asset inventory
and its condition.
• Streamlined presentation. The resulting SHSMP uses standardized
graphics for communicating conditions and deterioration rates. Details
on each asset/investment area are included in an appendix to the
document. Use of a standard approach helped simplify the
presentation of the materials and streamlined document preparation.
Challenges & Lessons • Caltrans 2017 State Highway
System Management Plan
Lack of integrated data system. Caltrans did not, as of the http://www.dot.ca.gov/assetmg
development of the 2017 SHSMP, have an integrated system for collecting mt/documents/SHSMP.pdf
and managing the data used to prepare the document. Caltrans is • Caltrans Point of Contact:
exploring the feasibility of implementing an integrated asset management State Transportation Asset
Engineer
system to help support development of the SHSMP and other related
documents and plans in the future.

Cases
Case C
Florida DOT Transportation Data

Portal
Open data portals have been developed at the
federal, state, and local levels. The U.S. Federal Open
Data Portal, deployed in 2009, provides access to
more than 300,000 data sets on data.gov. U.S. DOT
has created their own open data portals, including
its.dot.gov/data/. States are also developing their own
open data portals.
This case describes one state’s approach to creating a

data portal. Florida DOT’s Transportation Data
Portal was developed to help FDOT, the public,
contractors, and other 3rd-parties locate and utilize
data for internal and external projects. FDOT’s portal
is “a platform for locating data related to the core
mission of the Florida Department of
Transportation.”


Overview
FDOT’s goal was to provide a resource to allow people “to explore and
download open geospatial data; analyze and combine open data sets using
maps; develop new web/mobile applications, and more.” FDOT’s available
transportation data includes everything from GIS shapefiles describing
transportation facilities, aerial photography, documents, manuals, real-
time and historical traffic counts, summary statistics, interactive web
applications, assets, software, and much more. They created a data portal
that meets the needs of multiple stakeholders, including internal
employees, those doing business with FDOT, and the public.
Reporting: Share Data

FDOT took a multi-faceted approach to reporting and sharing data with
their stakeholders. FDOT is a relatively decentralized agency with seven
large districts and many different business units. Each business unit had
already been making select data sets available on disparate websites. The
Central Office eventually stepped in and decided to consolidate their
transportation data, reports, and other resources together in a single
site. Some business units provided their data directly to this new site
while others simply had their existing websites linked from this central
data portal. While this makes it slightly more difficult for users to locate
everything they might need, the DOT is clearly making great strides
toward open government and open data.
Insight: Present & Communicate Data

FDOT’s data portal (shown in Figure 8) is more than just a listing of live
and archived data sets. They also have applications, reports, and other
materials that provide insights, present the data in a digestible format, and
otherwise allow for interactive exploration.

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Figure 8. FDOT's transportation data portal provides links to many FDOT

data resources across different business units.
Figure 9 shows a user exploring aerial photography for a part of the state.
Users can search for photos by year, specific date, location, format, etc.
Results for small queries are shown immediately, while larger queries may
require additional time or retrieval options that go beyond online access.


Figure 9. A screenshot of Florida's Aerial Photo Lookup System.
Figure 10 shows another interactive application on Florida’s

transportation data portal that enables a user to explore traffic
monitoring sites, counts, districts, and summary statistics. There are
many additional summary reports and analyses that can be explored with
other applications—even apps dedicated to exploring data about the
location of wildflowers, meadows, and other beautification projects on or
adjacent to Florida roadways.

Cases
Figure 10. In addition to raw data sets, FDOT makes many data exploration
websites available to the public. The image above is of FDOT's continuous
count stations.
Success Factors
• Legislative action: In 2011, Florida’s governor issued Executive
Order 11-03 establishing the Office of Open Government. This order
required the state to establish and maintain a website providing ready
access to accountability information and required each Florida agency
to establish an Open Government contact.
• Leading by example: Several business units within the DOT had
already started to post important data sets online. This was done for
several reasons, including trying to proactively keep consultants and
the public from flooding FDOT phone lines and inboxes with data
requests, thus freeing up employees to conduct other business.
Certain FDOT business units also believed that providing data to the
public could potentially spur innovative solutions to FDOT’s growing
transportation problems. The business units that were already
successfully sharing their data with the public could tout their success
and show the positive ROI to other business units that had not yet
begun to share data.



Agency buy-in. Not every business unit initially thought that providing
all of their data online was a good idea. Providing data to the public can For more information...
open up the business unit (and the managers of the data) to increased
• Florida Office of Open
scrutiny. Some data managers felt they had little to gain and much to lose. Government
Others feared that making their data more easily accessible would lead to https://www.flgov.com/open_go
a devaluation of their own job. They were no longer the gate-keepers of vernment/
the data, and some thought that was a job security concern. The lesson • FDOT Transportation Data
learned is to anticipate these concerns and address them head-on. Portal
http://www.fdot.gov/agencyreso
Organization and presentation. FDOT has tried very hard to make urces/mapsanddata.shtm
the bulk of their data available online. This includes a wide variety of • FDOT Open Data Hub
https://gis-
data sets, including maps, asset inventory, and traffic counts. Because of
fdot.opendata.arcgis.com/
the diversity in data offerings, organizing the data in a way that makes it • U.S. DOT’s ITS JPO Data Portal
easily discoverable has been a challenge. Also, some business units were https://www.its.dot.gov/data/
already making their data available through disparate web pages. Joining
all of these web pages together into a truly centralized one-stop shop is
an ongoing challenge.

Cases
Case D
I-95 Corridor Coalition Probe

Vehicle Data Procurement
In 2007, the I-95 Corridor Coalition issued an
innovative, multistate request for proposals (RFP) for
purchase of private-sector, probe-based travel time.
The individuals behind this procurement had several
goals in mind:
1. Demonstrate the value of 3rd-party probe-based
speed data to states,
2. Make it easier for states to procure data
uniformly, and
3. Remedy private-sector acceptable use issues that
had plagued agencies in prior contracts.
As a result of this RFP and follow-up efforts, the I-95

Corridor Coalition established one of the most liberal and
flexible data use agreements that has become the “gold
standard” for agencies and consortiums across the country
for over a decade. This case illustrates how, while
procurement mechanisms and data products have changed
over the last decade, the underlying foundation of data
ownership, acceptable use, quality expectations, etc., has
not.


Overview
DOTs have been procuring traffic data and information services from the
private sector for many years. Data use agreements—documents that
state what can and cannot be done with private-sector data—are a
standard component of these public–private data procurements.
Unfortunately, many agencies end up with data use agreements that
heavily favor the private sector and severely limit the agency’s ability to
utilize the data in a way that benefits everyone.
Most agencies write RFPs for data from the private sector in a vacuum.
They may forget to talk to other stakeholders in their own agency—
procuring the data for a single use only. They may not think strategically
about future applications of the data. They may not seek out “lessons
learned” from other DOTs who have procured similar data. And worst
of all, they may neglect to specify acceptable use terms at all—leaving it
completely up to the data provider.
For example, many agencies deployed and owned Closed Caption
Television (CCTV) infrastructure, but contracted with 3rd parties to
stream those videos internally and with their customers (television
stations, agency traveler information sites, etc.). In those contracts,
agencies ended up having to pay to view their own video or share it with
others. The 3rd party monetized an asset that wasnottheirs by taking
advantage of agencies’ inexperience in negotiation of acceptable use
agreements.
Similarly, some 3rd-party speed sensor data providers negotiated the
installation of private-sector sensors on the public right-of-way in
exchange for allowing the agency to view the data coming from those
sensors. While at a glance that seems to be a reasonable partnership, that
data exchange came with many strings attached, effectively preventing
agencies from doing useful things with the data (like posting travel times
on variable message signs or on the web) unless the agency paid
significant additional fees. In effect, agencies traded valuable right-of-way
for a data set of very limited value due to acceptable use agreements.

To develop an agency-friendly and private-sector beneficial agreement,
the I-95 Corridor Coalition’s I-95 Vehicle Probe Project (Figure 11) took
a bold approach of defining acceptable use terms that incorporated
multistate sharing, perpetual use, data quality standards, unrestricted non-
commercial use, and other innovative clauses.

Cases
Figure 11. I-95 Corridor Coalition’s Vehicle Probe Project.
Agencies exchanged best and worst practices from their previous

procurements and contracts and generated a list of necessary
components for this agreement. Academics and consultants provided
insights on the future of planning and operations to cover a wide range of
situations. No stakeholder was left out of the discussion, and the
Coalition did not shy away from demanding certain terms and conditions.
The RFP also encouraged data collection and delivery approaches that did
not rely on installation of equipment on public rights-of-way as a means
to spur innovation and protect agencies from trading their most valuable
asset. Data quality specifications (including latency, accuracy, and
availability) ensured that providers were held accountable for the quality
of data they provided, regardless of technology used. Financial penalties
ensured that providers maintained the quality of their data and processes
throughout the length of contract. The University of Maryland was tasked
to be an impartial and objective 3rd-party validator of data quality to
ensure fair and equitable evaluation. Perhaps most importantly, the I-95
Corridor Coalition (and all state participants who agreed to the terms of
the data use agreement) retains the rights to use data in any way it sees fit
in perpetuity, with some limitations in sharing with other private entities
for commercial purposes. This allowed 3rd party data providers to retain
their right to resell data in commercial markets and maintain their
competitive edge.
This flexibility allowed agencies to use data for a variety of applications
ranging from real-time operations and traveler information to planning
and project prioritization. The general public also benefitted from an
empowered DOT that could suddenly react more quickly, provide better


traveler information, and make data-informed decisions with respect to

spending and construction.
Because the public sector did a good job setting clear expectations from
the beginning, 3rd party data providers saw a marked improvement in
their relationship with the public sector. Public-sector participants did
not feel restricted or taken advantage of, and more time could be spent
on innovating products and building relationships. Agencies and private-
sector data providers truly worked together in a mutually beneficial
partnership.
Success Factors
• Collaboration. Because agencies approached this procurement as
true collaborators, they were able to leverage their collective
knowledge and experience in contracting and procurement to create
a strong, public, agency-friendly data use agreement.
• Willingness to share. The I-95 Corridor Coalition emphasized the
need to share data across jurisdictional borders to support TPM
efforts across entire regions. The importance placed on cross-
jurisdictional sharing has led to innovation.
• Strong champion. The executive leadership of the Coalition was a
strong proponent of this project. This leadership helped to push for
the collaboration mentioned above and was extremely forceful in
demanding some of the more innovative terms and conditions that
had heretofore not been requested of data vendors.
• Governance. The Coalition established a steering committee made
up of leadership from each state. This ensured that no single interest
could dominate and kept all of the states actively involved.
• Focusing on the end result. This highly successful data use
agreement was possible because agencies focused on the end result
and allowed the private sector to innovate and meet the needs of
agencies in a mutually beneficial manner. Agencies worked together
to exchange knowledge and experience and create a common vision
for better service to the general public.

Cases

Disparate needs across agencies. Each agency may have different
priorities or focus areas depending on their geography—urban versus For more information...
rural nature—or modes and types of traffic traversing their networks. In • I-95 Corridor Coalition Probe
the past, this led agencies to think that collaborative solutions would not Data RFP
meet their unique needs. However, the I-95 Corridor Coalition data use http://i95coalition.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/02/RFP_
agreement showed that despite differences, agencies have many common
82085N_Final_Final.doc?x7056
goals, and with carefully drafted language that is not overly prescriptive, 0
agencies could rely on innovative private-sector solutions to satisfy many • I-95 Corridor Coalition Vehicle
disparate missions. Probe Project Documents
http://i95coalition.org/projects/
Change in established vision of public–private relationships. vehicle-probe-project/
• I-95 Corridor Coalition Data
Through this process, both agencies and private-sector data providers Use Agreement
had to adjust to a new kind of relationship. Agencies had to let go of their http://www.i95coalition.org/wp-
previous tendencies to view vendors with suspicion, while private-sector content/uploads/2015/02/VPPII
providers had to make some concessions in short-term profits in order _DUAv9_signed.pdf
to establish a positive relationship that would result in overall long-term • Data Use and Application
Guide
benefit. Both had to act in true partnership. http://i95coalition.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/008-
7G_VPP_DATA_USE_Report_
Final_April_2011.pdf?x70560


Case E
Maryland State Highway

Administration’s Incident
After Action Reviews
Many agencies conduct after action reviews (AARs)
for major incidents. The purpose of the AAR is to
bring together the key operations, personnel, and
responders involved in the incident in order to reflect
on the successes and failures of their response with
the goal of improving future performance. This case
highlights the power of data to build a common
understanding of what happened and a consensus on
needed improvements.

Cases
Overview
The most mature transportation operations agencies conduct weekly
AARs on all types and categories of events in order to build teams,
enhance communication, and continually improve. Some agencies use a
manual tracking process—operators and responders fill out paper forms
to document AARs. These forms may be completed days or even weeks
following an incident and thus rely on foggy, imprecise memories. Then,
information from the forms is compiled and used to write reports or
discuss the incident in small groups. This manual process can be tedious,
leading to less complete data capture and a less-than-enthusiastic group
of AAR participants.
The Maryland State Highway Administration (MD SHA) has taken a
decidedly different approach to conducting AARs that involve automated,
electronic data capture and reporting. The result is a more effective AAR
that is engaging, easy to conduct, and informative. This approach
encourages more frequent AARs and allows the operational response of
the agency to be quantified and tracked over time.
Foundation: Specify & Define Data

MD SHA identified the need for incident data in their business and
strategic plans (see “For more information…” at the end of this chapter).
They collect data about where incidents are occurring, how many
vehicles are involved, which responders (both agencies and vehicle types)
have been notified about the incident, when they arrived on the scene,
and when they departed. They capture the name of responders, certain
tasks that they performed on scene, the road surface conditions, and lane
closings/openings over the course of the incident, as well as other
operator notes related to information flows, radio communications, and
more. These data were deemed necessary not only for real time
operations management, but also for MD SHA’s annual performance
evaluation and benefit analysis, which helps to justify their operations
program and annual budget.
Reporting: Store & Manage Data

Maryland’s operations platform has been customized and refined since
the mid-1980s to collect highly detailed data. The data are collected and
stored at MD SHA. Data are archived, time-stamped, and attributed to
individual incidents.


Incident data are then combined with data from ITS devices [Dynamic
Message Signs (DMS), Closed Caption Television (CCTV) images, volume
and speed detectors, signals] and probe-based speed data used to derive
queue buildups and congestion levels.
Maryland SHA’s data is transmitted in real time to the Regional Integrated
Transportation Information System (RITIS) platform that supports
reporting and analysis for AARs and performance evaluation.

Maryland has developed a series of reporting and visualization tools that
are used to help spur discussion and facilitate a dialogue among the
responders and operations personnel.
They begin by producing a timeline graphic of the response to the
incident (Figure 12).
Figure 12. Incident timeline.

Cases
This timeline includes every event recorded during the incident, including
when responders were notified about the incident, when they arrived,
and when they departed. It includes communication logs, DMS
activations, queue buildups, photos and videos of the event, and
indications of which lanes were blocked over time.
Within the timeline, they can expand the list of operator notes and
communication logs to see the flow of information between the responders.
Figure 13 shows the communication log.
Figure 13. Communication log.
They also generate animated maps that show queues building (and receding)
over time (Figure 14). These maps typically show adjacent roads and
arterials so that the agency can better understand how their actions affect
others. Animated maps can also be placed side by side to showcase traffic
during a particular incident compared to normal traffic conditions.


Figure 14. Animated maps.
Side-by-side congestion scan graphics (Figure 15) also show how queues
built up and subsided during the day of the event compared to similar
days of the week when no incidents occurred.
Figure 15. Congestion scan.

Cases
Heat maps then help the agency understand if this location is a high-crash
location (Figure 16).
Figure 16. Heat maps.
Video images at different locations and time points (Figure 17) are available
to provide additional documentation of the incident.
Figure 17. Example incident documentation supporting AARs.


Finally, user delay cost graphics (Figure 18) help the agency visualize the
social financial cost of the delays. For example, the cost of typical user delay
on I-495 in Maryland (including the connecting arterials) would be about
$150k/weekday. However, during one particularly bad incident (shown
above from images captured by MD SHA in RITIS), the cost of user delay
skyrocketed to over $1.2M. This conservative estimate did not account for
delays in the opposite direction of travel, excess fuel consumption,
emissions, or the cost of equipment damage.
Figure 18. User delay cost graphics.

In less than an hour, MD SHA is able to create powerful slide decks from
the above data reports. These slide decks are then sent out to the
responders who participate in AAR meetings in-person or remotely.
During AAR meetings, the slide decks documenting the incident are used
to facilitate a discussion. Each agency comments on what the data is
telling them, including how they responded, how they communicated, etc.
This process helps the responders determine what they did well and
what they could have done better. The RITIS reports validate the
discussion and lend credibility to the responders’ accounts of what
happened. These reports also help the responders to understand the
societal impacts of their actions (or inactions), which can help drive
policy. Two examples illustrate how insights from the reports led to
changes in operations policies:
• In one AAR meeting, MD SHA was able to make the case that the
state police needed to adjust how they manage their tow list to ensure
that towing companies have the necessary equipment for heavy duty
operations. This recommendation was based on clear data from the
incident timeline that showed multiple tow dispatches and long arrival
times.
• Firefighters tended to close many lanes (or all lanes) of the roadway
during their response, resulting in high delay costs. However,
information captured in the timeline tool, queue graphics, user delay
cost graphics, and additional reports on secondary incidents have

Cases
helped convince the responder community to change its policies for

blocking lanes and move more toward a stronger quick-clearance
mentality.
Success Factors
• Specifying and obtaining the right data. The performance
reports described above were only possible because MD SHA spent
considerable time over the last couple of decades defining data needs
and dedicating funding and operator training to ensure that all
necessary data is collected.
• Analysis tools tailored to decision maker needs. Analysis tools
provide quick access to data and show the benefits of quick-clearance
practices and the value of transportation systems management and
operations programs.
• Effective visualizations. The reports and visualization provide the
agency ammunition for requests for funding, positions, and
equipment. MD SHA’s early investments in data and analytics are
paying off.
• Commitment to data-driven decision making. In the past, AARs
were more about “war stories” than data analysis. As a result, they For more information...
reinforced or justified existing behaviors rather than provide an • The Maryland DOT CHART
opportunity for new insights. Now, however, data, tools, and Strategic Planning website can
processes are in place to conduct regular AARs, and those tools be found here:
provide data-backed conclusions. The agency can be more confident in https://chart.maryland.gov//read
ingroom/RR_StrategicPlanning.
its decision making, and the tools assist MD SHA in making the case to
asp
external (and internal) partners about improving current practices. • A video of the Statewide
Over time, the agency will be able to analyze trends along individual Operations Center (SOC)
corridors and quantify the effects of actions taken based on the AARs. Operations Manager for
MDOT discussing their AAR
Challenges & Lessons reporting procedures using a
fatal incident example can be
Making the case for investing in data. Operators already face found here:
demanding jobs, and asking them to collect more data was an uphill https://vimeo.com/207690734#
battle. Early education and advocacy were needed at all levels. Senior t=567s
management had to be convinced that the extra workload would be • Maryland DOT Point of
Contact: State Operations
worth the effort. Center Manager
Funding and implementation. Even after the agency made the • RITIS Point of Contact:
University of Maryland’s CATT
decision to collect more data, it took a great deal of time to raise funds
Lab Director
and enhance systems to add new data fields, train staff, and see a return
on the investment. It is important to keep in mind that implementation
takes time and to set appropriate expectations.


Case F
MATOC Regional Operations

Evaluation
Following experiences from the 9/11 attacks and other
major incidents, transportation officials from Maryland,
Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
committed to share and coordinate their
transportation systems’ conditions and information
management during regional incidents. They formed
the Metropolitan Area Transportation Operations
Coordination (MATOC) Program. MATOC is staffed
like a small traffic operations center. The staff integrate
system technologies, improve procedures and planning,
and provide accurate and timely transportation
information to the public. This enables participating
agencies to work together to make travel smoother
and safer. This case describes how the MATOC
program has been able to use its shared pool of
operational data to support a quantitative analysis of
benefits and costs in support of a regional coordination
program.

Cases
Reporting: Store & Manage, Share Data

Through MATOC, transportation agencies from Maryland, Virginia, and
the District of Columbia realized that they could benefit from
coordinating not only during significant events, but also to support their
day-to-day operational needs. MATOC integrates disparate agency
systems and policies to support real-time coordination and information
dissemination. MATOC uses the RITIS to provide a common platform for
data sharing and analysis. As the program grew, the number of
jurisdictions contributing data sets grew as well.
Insight: Analyze & Use Data

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) engaged
an independent contractor to perform a benefit-cost analysis of the
program. As illustrated in Figure 19, the analysis evaluated the response
to three representative incidents in the region where MATOC was
involved. These incidents were compared to calibrated model incidents
where MATOC actions were not present—resulting in estimated costs
that were annualized based on historical data.
Figure 19. Link-based speed visualization.
The analysis found that an average of 224 police-reported vehicle-related

accidents occur per day across the region. MATOC helps to manage
approximately ninety regionally significant incidents per month. Annual
benefits of direct MATOC action were estimated at $12.9 million in mobility
savings, which includes a greenhouse gas savings of more than $500,000.


This is a conservative estimate and does not include the costs of secondary
incident reduction.
The positive ROI stemmed primarily from enhanced real-time data sharing
among agencies. This allowed agencies to more quickly become aware of
incidents, respond, clear the incident, and alert travelers, and to develop
standard operating procedures that account for impacts of regional and
cross-jurisdictional events. Using the RITIS as a data sharing, warehousing,
visualization, and dissemination platform, agencies had easy access to
regional performance measures data that included detailed incident and
incident response information, as well as flow information from traditional
sensors and probe vehicles. A sample RITIS incident information display is
shown in Figure 20. The byproducts of this data sharing and collaboration
were improvement of each agency’s data (since others were relying on it)
and the ability to provide better and more relevant traveler information.
Figure 20. RITIS incident information.
Agencies can now analyze their performance across jurisdictions using a

system that removes institutional barriers and data challenges.
The ability of the region to make a case for a program solely focused on
data sharing and collaboration removed any doubt about the value of

Cases
sharing in improving safety and mobility in the region. Presenting a

benefit-cost ratio of 10:1 for participating agencies convinced the decision
makers to continue to invest in the program and tailor it to the needs of
the region as it continues to grow and change.
Success Factors
• Interagency collaboration. The pooled operational data from
multiple agencies enabled the benefit-cost evaluators to look at
benefits and costs as they pertain to the entire region, not just a
single agency or jurisdiction.
• Exposing data as a quality improvement strategy. As data
were exposed to a larger audience, a virtuous cycle of quality
improvement and data utilization occurred.
• Benefit-cost analysis to sustain support. While 9/11 and other
major incidents provided the initial impetus for MATOC, conducting
a benefit-cost analysis was instrumental to sustaining support for the
program. Historical data enabled before-and-after comparisons of
incident response that provided the basis for the analysis. For more information...
• MATOC Benefit Cost Analysis
Challenges & Lessons White Paper
http://www1.mwcog.org/upload
Providing a baseline. One of the largest challenges when it comes to s/committee-
evaluating benefits of a program such as MATOC is establishing a baseline documents/Yl5ZVlZc20100607
performance level. Unlike a capital improvement project that provides a 114406.pdf
capacity increase, the value of quicker communication or cross- • MATOC Website
https://matoc.org/
jurisdictional coordination is more difficult to establish. However, the • RITIS https://ritis.org/
availability of supporting data prior to establishment of MATOC and after • MATOC Point of Contact:
the program, and the ability to model incidents, allowed the independent MATOC Facilitator
evaluators to calculate tangible benefits of the program.


Case G
Creating a Team of Data Experts to

Support TPM at the Mid-America
Regional Council
Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) is the eight-
county, bi-state Kansas City Region’s Metropolitan
Planning Organization (MPO); it covers four counties
in Missouri and four counties in Kansas. Like many
MPOs and other transportation agencies, MARC has
seen a growing need to gather and analyze data in
order to monitor and interpret trends, shape and track
progress toward performance goals, and ensure
compliance with federal TPM requirements.
In response, MARC has developed new staff

capabilities and data management practices that give
the agency a better ability to handle data analytics and
performance management tasks. These new capabilities
come in the form of two new “data developers” who
dedicate roughly a quarter of their time to TPM
compliance. Prior to their hiring, much of MARC’s
data-related effort was concentrated on manually
obtaining, organizing, and cleaning data.

Cases

Prioritizing data sets for automation. With the ever-growing
importance of data in mind, MARC created a data coordination
committee charged with improving agency-wide governance and
administration for data management. The committee included liaisons
from each department, as shown below in Figure 21.
Figure 21. MARC data coordination committee.
After inventorying all data housed within MARC, the committee created
a “top ten” list of priority data sets for automation. The list was split
evenly between transportation- and census-related items. The
transportation-related items covered pavement and bridge conditions,
safety/crash statistics, National Performance Management Research Data
Set (NPMRDS) information, transit route information, and what MARC
calls “network attributes” (e.g., functional classification, National Highway
System designation).
Repurposing staff positions to adapt to changing needs. In order
to move forward with its plan to automate data processes, MARC


repurposed two open positions, including a GIS specialist and a

demographer, into data developer positions capable of creating and
managing systematic workflows for data gathering and organization .
While GIS and demographics support needs still exist at MARC, advances
in mapping software and web data tools have reduced the amount of time
required for these tasks, and MARC concluded it no longer needed full-
time employees for those specific functions.
Data specialists with public-sector experience. In its search for
data developer hires, MARC listed programming and application
development skills, along with data analytics and visualization, as base
competencies. While not listed as requirements, candidates with planning
and public-sector experience were given a strong preference. The data
developers MARC hired both had public-sector experience, in addition to
the required programming skills; one had worked in the GIS division of a
public entity; the other had worked for a transportation engineering firm
serving public-sector clients. Both had experience in dealing with various
stakeholders and in handling data sets related to public policy issues.
Ensuring systems meet the needs of the users. Once hired, the
data developers were immediately inserted into the data coordination
committee to coordinate their roles with the committee’s goals of
enhancing MARC’s data management processes. To ensure the data
developers understand how the data they manage is ultimately used, they
regularly participate in meetings with transportation planning staff to
discuss high-level data needs. More focused, detail-oriented breakout
sessions are conducted as well. These meetings serve as a feedback
mechanism to compare the data needs of the MPO with the systems
created by the developers to address those needs.

Automating data delivery has greatly improved efficiency. Prior
to MARC’s hiring of the data developers, accessing data to respond to
requests or to meet reporting requirements was time-consuming.
Data sets were typically downloaded into Excel files that users then had
to manually edit in order to extract the relevant information. Analysts
were not necessarily aware of what information was available within the
agency and would spend considerable time searching through files and
folders in MARC’s servers to see which data sets had already been saved.
The developers have since created automated processes to obtain
data sets and import them into SQL databases. The databases have front-

Cases
end interfaces that greatly simplify the process of querying them to

extract the information MARC needs. This has resulted in MARC being
able to dedicate more time toward reviewing and analyzing the data. As
information needed to meet federal requirements was given priority,
automated processes have been implemented and SQL databases
developed for data concerning pavement and bridge conditions, safety
measures, and system performance.

Beyond standard reporting: diving deep into the data. While
automating data processes was the initial impetus behind MARC’s hiring
of the data developers, a valuable byproduct of the efficiency gained in
automation was the ability for MARC to review data in ways that it
previously had not realized were possible. Of particular note is how
MARC now uses the crash data. As a bi-state MPO, MARC receives
crash data from two different state DOTs in two different formats. Prior
to automation, MARC only took the high-level data points such as
fatalities and injuries from the files as further processing would be too
time-consuming. With the use of a commercial GIS data integration
platform, the data developers were able to combine the raw crash data
files from the separate DOTs into one comprehensive dataset that allows
MARC to analyze data points it previously was not even aware were
included in the files. This includes location data that could now be
presented spatially, adding much depth to their analyses. Also, because
the process is automated, MARC is now able to refresh this data
quarterly, which leads to more timely analyses.
The time saved in managing data, combined with new tools to better
visualize the data, have contributed to MARC’s ability to conduct special
analyses for planning studies and special projects and, in general, to think
of new and more inventive ways to analyze the data they have. Whereas
before MARC primarily used the data simply to answer the questions
required of it, it can now use the data to come up with its own
questions and form hypotheses.
Success Factors
• Focus. Developing a top ten list of data elements/sets for automation
helped MARC determine the right skill sets to look for, and also
helped the developers focus on high priority projects immediately.
• Communication. Having the data developers participate in the
performance management team meetings ensures that they have a


good understanding of how the data is to be used so that they can

develop the proper systems to acquire and organize the data.
• Automation of routine processes. The data developers were able
to create automated processes for data collection and subsequently
developed databases with user-friendly querying capabilities from
which to access the data.
• Deployment of data integration and analysis tools. The data
developers brought new skill sets and introduced innovative tools
that vastly improved MARC’s ability to access and analyze data. While
storage and management greatly improved efficiency, it was the
introduction of the data integration platform that truly allowed
MARC to see the possibilities for more robust data analyses.

From “We have two dedicated data developers!” to “We only
have two dedicated data developers?” MARC has greatly benefitted
from the addition of the data developers and the successful systems they
have been able to implement. However, the demand for their services is
beginning to outpace their capacity. TPM will always take priority given
the federal requirements, but MARC now has to focus on balancing the
data developers’ workloads. That entails better defining their roles and
responsibilities.
Data analysis only gets you so far. MARC cited “institutional inertia”
as a challenge, specifically the difficulty in convincing stakeholders to
appropriately consider data analyses when making critical decisions. Much
of the data MARC is now able to process was not available ten years ago.
That lack of availability led people to make decisions that were slightly
more political in nature. Unfortunately, that practice carries on through
today even though the data is now readily accessible and can more easily
be analyzed.
• MARC data webpage
http://www.marc.org/Data-
A useful committee is often composed of people too busy to sit
Economy
on it. MARC staff understand the importance of the data coordination • MARC Point of Contact:
committee and its meetings in ensuring the developers have proper MARC Principal Transportation
guidance, but finding staff bandwidth to keep the meetings going has been Planner
a challenge. To address this, MARC is planning on restructuring certain
staff roles so that participating in the committee meetings becomes an
explicit responsibility.

Cases
Case H
New Jersey DOT Project

Assessment Reporting
Motivated by a desire to be more open in
communicating the reason for selecting projects and
describing the impacts of projects, the New Jersey
Department of Transportation (NJDOT) began to
develop the capabilities to analyze individual projects,
quantify impacts, and communicate those impacts in a
meaningful, reproducible, and easily understandable
way. Prior to 2015, this was extremely difficult due to
three challenges:
1. The high cost of conducting an analysis,
2. A general lack of before-and-after data, and
3. The difficulty in distilling complex project and
mobility data into a digestible format for the
public and decision makers.
NJDOT adopted a Tactical-Level Asset Management

Plan (T-LAMP) for better project and program
development and to demonstrate to senior leadership,
legislators, and the public effective, transparent funding
expenditures with positive performance results.



The data for this initiative came from INRIX (for speeds and travel times)
and NJDOT (for incident, event, and construction location data). All of
these data are then provided to the RITIS Platform, where they are fused
and integrated. The RITIS Platform is then used for an analysis and for
generating the graphics that are inserted into various reporting templates.
The performance reports are largely automated within the RITIS Suite.
However, the tools still require basic training and domain expertise. The
agency was successful at implementing before-and-after studies because
they had a couple of dedicated employees (one transportation engineer
and one planner) that took the time to attend training sessions,
participated in user groups, and collaborated with other agencies who
were also using the tools. They also had the support from senior
leadership to utilize the new system.

The RITIS Probe Data Analytics Suite includes a series of tools that
crunch most of the numbers on behalf of the user. The user, however,
must know which analysis needs to be performed and how to select
proper parameters in the application and is responsible for interpreting
the results and scrutinizing them with additional investigation as needed.
The bulk of the work is consolidating all of the results from the analytics
and turning them into a story that conveys meaning to the audience.
The use of the analytics tools did not require any advanced degrees, and
the amount of training needed was minimal; however, the transportation
domain expertise of the planner and transportation engineer made
interpretation of the results much easier to digest and insert into a
narrative that would be more readily digestible by the public. The agency
focused primarily on projects that were ranked as the most impactful.
The Garden State Parkway is listed as the second worst congested
location, as shown in Figure 22.

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Figure 22. Top 10 bottleneck locations—state and authority roadways.
Figures 23–25 illustrate some of the other system outputs:

• Figure 23: Congestion Scan—showing impacts (before/after) of a
construction project.
• Figure 24: Performance Summary Report—showing impacts
(before/after) of a signal removal project.
• Figure 25: System Trend Map—showing impacts (before/after) of
a construction project designed to reduce congestion and travel
times to the beach.


Figure 23. Congestion scans depict congestion before and after the
completion of a project on the Garden State Parkway.

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Figure 24. Before-and-after performance from the Garden State Parkway

signal removal project.
Figure 25. NJ Garden State Parkway—before-and-after conditions of a

major construction project designed to reduce congestion and travel times
to the beach.



Simply providing a set of graphs, maps, and charts from the analytics tools
is not sufficient. The agency must write a narrative around the results
that interprets the results, points out meaningful observations, and tells
the “why” within the performance report. This can be a challenge, and
the agency was able to leverage in-house journalists, marketing experts,
and other professionals who are trained at communicating performance
and otherwise complex transportation analysis for a public audience.
For example, both NJDOT and MPOs have developed 11x17 pamphlets
that are meant to be handed out to the public and other officials that
quickly tell the story of the project (Figures 26 and 27).
Front cover Page 1, inside

Figure 26. NJDOT Project Assessment Summary Pamphlet—Part 1.

Cases
Figure 27. NJDOT Project Assessment Summary Pamphlet—Part 2.
Most of these documents are posted online, and some are also
distributed in print form. The new reports and online publications have
been well received; the graphics are more engaging than prior reports,
and they tell a story that is relatable and understandable to a customer.
The agency is now able to update the documents more quickly and have
been able to conduct more before-and-after studies in less time than
before. This leads to the agency being perceived as more responsive to
the public and more capable.
The agency is also realizing significant cost savings in using this approach
and the data analytics platform. Before having their data fused and
available in analytics, they spent upwards of $20k for a before-and-after
study with a small consultant team. Now they can conduct the analysis in-
house in just a few hours. NJDOT estimates they are saving $475k/year
and 4,475 person-hours on conducting these studies annually.
Success Factors
• Ease of access to the data through graphical user interfaces


• Powerful data visualizations that make data interpretation easy

• A champion within the agency that takes the time to learn to use the
data/tools
• Trust in the data and tools (which comes from having a relatively open
system that fully documents how data is interpreted and how
calculations are made)

• Making the adjustments needed to transition from prior
methodologies that relied heavily on modeling and simulation to a new
methodology that is based on actual data
• Building confidence in the new data and methodologies on the part of
both technical staff and agency leadership
• Concern that new transparency could potentially show that some
projects may not have had the desired impact
NJDOT was able to overcome these challenges because of the open lines
of communication from those conducting the work up to senior
leadership. It was fairly easy to sell management on switching from a
modeling and simulation-based methodology (one that relied heavily on For more information...
assumptions and piecemeal data collection) over to a methodology that • Presentation on the NJ DOT
leveraged continuous field measurements (probe data) that had been Complete Team
vetted to be extremely accurate. The I-95 Corridor Coalition had an https://tinyurl.com/completeteam
• Use Case Description
existing program in place to validate data from the probe data providers, https://www.ritis.org/usecases/as
which gave NJDOT leadership more confidence in the data. Lastly, agency sessment
team members had been participating in a Probe Data Analytics User • RITIS Platform www.ritis.org
Group (also hosted by the I-95 Corridor Coalition) that exposed staff to • Project Prioritization Demo
other agencies conducting similar types of analysis using the Probe Data https://vimeo.com/179829037
Analytics Suite. Seeing their peers work on similar endeavors gave the
agency more confidence in the direction that they were heading.

Cases
Case I
Ohio DOT Winter Performance

Management
Ohio has spent significant time developing and
operationalizing their Transportation System
Management and Operations (TSMO) Dashboard,
which includes 20 performance measures. Because
Ohio experiences a fair share of winter weather, some
of their performance measures are dedicated
specifically to snow and ice recovery. It can be difficult
or impossible to keep roadways clear of snow and ice
during storms. However, travelers must be able to
continue to utilize the roadways even after major
weather events. In light of this challenge, Ohio DOT
(ODOT) has developed a specific activity and
outcome-based performance measure called “recovery
time,” which allows the agency to evaluate their
operational strategies to most effectively manage
roadways during the winter season, incentivize
recovery efforts, and communicate with both
management and travelers.



In order to effectively manage operations and winter weather response,
ODOT collects speed data along impacted corridors prior to, during, and
after snowstorms. In the past, ODOT used traditional static sensors to
collect speed information, but with emergence of 3rd-party-provided
speed data, ODOT has been able to collect speed data statewide at a
much more granular level.
The agency also monitors atmospheric and roadway conditions using
Roadway Weather Information Stations (RWIS) to identify when the
storms begin and end.
A snow or ice event begins when 40% of a county’s RWIS stations detect
either snow or freezing rain, paired with the following criteria:
• The air temperature or pavement temperature is below 34°,
AND
• The speed drops more than 10 mph below its expected value on
at least 25% of designated routes within the county (minimum two).
A snow and ice event is considered complete when the following are
true:
• At least 60% of the county’s RWIS stations are reporting “None”
or “Rain” as the precipitation type, AND
• The wind speed detected from RWIS stations drops below 15
mph (to account for drifting snow).
• ALSO: A new snow and ice event does not begin within two hours.
When the above is true, the performance clock starts for each route.
The time from the end of the event until speeds recover is called the
recovery period.
Each county in the state has the goal of two hours for the recovery
period on each designated route. The recovery period officially ends
once speeds recover to within 10 mph of their expected values for at
least an hour. Any route that has not recovered within the two-hour goal
will be reported.

Cases

To view speed information and calculate the recovery period, ODOT has
several tools at its disposal. First, they have ability to analyze data using
traditional tools and techniques, such as Microsoft Excel and database
queries. Second, ODOT also has access to a hosted data visualization
platform, Probe Data Analytics, which allows the agency to quickly
evaluate the conditions prior to, during, and after the storm. The user
can select corridors or regions of interest and animate link-based speed
information across multiple time periods to determine when the system
is operating at pre-storm speeds. Lastly, the agency has developed its
own internal performance measures dashboard that leverages data from
the above sources to produce a drill-down-capable summary with
supporting graphics. Figure 28 shows the platform’s snow and ice event
dashboard.
Figure 28. Partial screenshot of ODOT's Snow and Ice Event Dashboard.
It can be seen in this figure that in April 2018, District 4 met their
performance objective of recovering routes within two hours on only 11
of the 13 routes in their district—thus receiving a recovered score of 85%.
As the recovery period became an established measure of performance,
the agency was able to implement operational strategies that improved
the overall customer satisfaction level. For example, ODOT was able to
focus their attention on storm-impacted areas with the slowest recovery
period and/or districts that struggled to recover all of their routes to
deploy additional roadway treatments for future storms. ODOT also


leveraged existing RWIS data to evaluate roadway conditions (like salinity

content, surface temperature, etc.) and a combination of CCTV and
speed information (from probe data providers and sensors) to further
identify potential sources of slow recovery time and dispatch service
patrols to assist stranded motorists or direct travelers to alternate
routes through traveler information resources and media campaigns.
Their interactive dashboard also allows for drill-down capability—
enabling users to look at specific district and specific event performance,
as illustrated in Figure 29. This type of drill-down capability made the
measures much more insightful as ODOT began to answer the question
of why certain districts and routes were performing worse than others.
Figure 29. Dashboard drill-down view.
Drilling down in the dashboard lets the user see how each event was
managed, whether it hit the two-hour recovery period, missed, etc.
Clicking on a specific location draws a diagram of the road depicting
which segments did not recover soon enough.
The dashboard resource view (shown in Figure 30) displays which
resources were used: overtime hours, brine, equipment, etc. The district
can even include written feedback explaining why it believes it was not
able to meet the specified target.

Cases
Figure 30. Dashboard resource view.
Success Factors
• Customer-focused performance measure with connection to
operational actions. ODOT spent a good deal of time developing
their TSMO plan and identifying specific measures that would best
reflect customer expectations with respect to system performance
after a winter storm. Recovery time is the type of measure that is
easily communicated to decision makers and general public, yet it also
ties well with operational actions that directly influence it.
• Use of available data and tools. ODOT was able to utilize
existing data sources and tools to calculate this new measure that
provided better insight into winter performance management. They
also leveraged internal staff to develop their own dashboard and
develop computational methods.
• Workforce capabilities. ODOT believes it has a large number of
younger, computer-savvy engineers who have thoroughly embraced
these measures. These staff resources have enabled ODOT to use
the measures to make real decisions within the agency.



Defining scope of measure’s effectiveness. As ODOT makes
progress in improving recovery periods, they have internally discussed For more information...
implementation of the same measure during the storm. In effect, the goal
• Webinar Recording on Building
could be to bring speeds up to pre-storm values while the storm is TSMO Performance Measures
ongoing. However, many believe this goal may be in direct conflict with https://youtu.be/SCDnwBDhN5
safety-related goals that may require that travelers slow down during k?t=2345
poor weather conditions. In this context, recovery period may not be the • FHWA Best Practices for Road
appropriate measure to track during a storm. Weather Management case
study
Automation. The DOT faced a number of technical challenges https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publica
associated with the scale of this effort. They had to leverage data and tions/fhwahop12046/rwm16_m
ichigan1.htm (this case study is
technologies that already existed and find a way to blend these data into of Michigan DOT, which uses a
a system and processes that could compute measures in real time as a similar measure as ODOT)
storm moves through an area, provide actionable insights, and allow for • Ohio DOT Point of Contact:
operational changes to be made in real time. The level of effort involved Administrator, Office of Traffic
in designing and implementing such a system was significant. There has Management
also been a significant amount of manual effort to populate the system
and keep it functioning—especially in the early years of development.

Cases
Case J
Pennsylvania DOT’s Statewide

Transportation Operations Data
Warehousing Business Plan
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
(PennDOT) has taken a holistic approach to data
planning—involving all possible stakeholders—to try to
improve the agency’s data capabilities while reducing
costs. This foundational work is key to their long-term
success.


Overview
Every agency generates transportation-related data and must store those
data in a way that enables easy access and management. All too often,
agencies collect data in silos. One department generates centerline
mapping files in a standalone GIS environment; a second department
collects speed and volume data for planning and federal reporting using
in-pavement sensors; a third department collects speed data from a mix
of probes and above-ground sensors; a fourth department collects and
manages toll collection data; and so on.
This approach is often organic and usually happens because agencies are
large and complex. However, in other agencies, an ad hoc approach can
be intentional. Business units fight for resources, become territorial over
their own data, or can be uncomfortable with others becoming aware of
their efforts. Ad hoc data management (or lack of management)
approaches increase agency costs, limit capabilities, and can lead to a
toxic culture.
The more mature agencies take a holistic view of data collection and
management—pooling resources to understand data needs, data assets,
data gaps, management, and accessibility.

In 2015, PennDOT undertook a significant effort to lower the cost of
doing business through the consolidation of the state’s transportation
data assets. Leadership recognized that the transportation community
generates a considerable amount of transportation operations data—such
as traffic volume data, incident data, asset information, and speed data—
without an effective means to share the data between one another.
The concept of a Pennsylvania Statewide Transportation Operations Data
Warehouse (PA STODW) was born. The idea behind the STODW was
to increase planning, operations, and research capabilities within the
state, significantly reducing the cost of doing business, dramatically
improving agency capabilities, and improving coordination with partners
in transit, tolling, freight, local governments, and emergency management
agencies. Implementation of a PA STODW would provide access to the
best-available transportation operations data in support of the safe,
secure, and efficient movement of people and goods on Pennsylvania
roads.
Figure 31 illustrates an early vision for the data warehouse.

Cases
Figure 31. Early PA STODW system concept.
To test the viability of this vision, PennDOT assembled a team to assist in

the development of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) and then to
develop a business plan with a technical analysis of alternatives and cost
analysis. This team, which consisted of leadership within PennDOT’s
Bureau of Maintenance and Operations and several dozen stakeholders,
developed a set of overarching goals for the PA STODW:
1. Support objectives-driven, performance-based transportation
operations planning.
2. Support a robust transportation operations performance
measures program.
3. Provide integrated and interconnected Enterprise IT and ITS
technology and data.
4. Support development of data-driven strategies and actions in the
planning process that lead to an integrated, efficient
transportation system.
5. Improve cooperation and collaboration within PennDOT and
between PennDOT and other public agencies for the sharing of
transportation operations data.
Five specific objectives were established in support of these goals,

including:


• Establish a PA STODW architecture that is open, receptive

and adaptable; is consistent with developing national
standards; provides opportunities for private/public
partnerships; and encourages and supports interagency
cooperation.
• Develop and integrate traffic monitoring, traffic surveillance
and incident reporting, roadway and roadside equipment, and
environmental information throughout Pennsylvania, as
appropriate.
• Define how operations information is collected, processed,
archived, shared, and distributed.
• Define the interfaces and information flows among/between
subsystems, stakeholder organizations, and PA STODW users.
• Assist in developing, prioritizing, and addressing proposed
transportation operations technology and data-related
investments.
In the concept development phase, PennDOT assembled a large group of
stakeholders that included nearly every office and division within the
agency. PennDOT also involved stakeholders from 18 external agencies,
including MPOs, municipalities, transit, commercial freight operators/
organizations, emergency management agencies, etc. During multiple
concept development and outreach meetings, these agencies were asked
to describe their agency’s data wants and needs and to provide a list of
any existing data assets that they might be willing to share. Figure 32
illustrates the deployment concepts that were explored.

Cases
Figure 32. The STODW deployment alternatives concepts.
Success Factors
• Stakeholder involvement. Through frequent stakeholder meetings and
considerable outreach, this project was much more successful than it otherwise
would have been. The stakeholder engagement identified data needs and existing
capabilities (and inabilities) with respect to data. These stakeholder meetings served
to galvanize the state’s data owners and data users and produced a much more
effective end result.
• Leadership buy-in. The Chief of Traffic Operations in PennDOT had a strong
desire to see this project succeed. He was an effective communicator who could
easily convey the intent and justification for the project in a way that secured buy-in
from others within the agency. Through his leadership, he was able to successfully
build a team that shared his vision.
• Alignment with existing agency goals. PennDOT’s State Transportation
Advisory Committee’s 2015 Transportation Performance report states that
“PennDOT is committed to accountability for results and transparency of
operations” and that “PennDOT must continue to provide leadership and
collaboration to its partners in continuing to modernize transportation products and
services.” This foundational data project directly aligned with this commitment and
therefore was easier to justify to agency funders.



Conflicting priorities. While nearly everyone in the agency (including
many external stakeholders) all viewed this as an important project, it For more information...
was also seen as a bit of a distraction from other priorities within the
• Pennsylvania State
department. Transportation Advisory
Lack of immediate results. The result of this first phase was still very Committee reports & studies
web page
foundational. The deliverable was a plan and a list of recommendations.
http://www.talkpatransportatio
The implemented system that would truly affect people wouldn’t be n.com/advisory-
realized until 1 or 2 years later, and therefore it was a bit difficult to get committees/tac-reports-studies
people to remain excited and committed to the project over a longer • PA STODW Concept of
time frame after the initial stakeholder engagement activities. Operations Document and
Business Plan and Cost Analysis
Turf wars. When it came to evaluate alternative implementation Report No. FHWA-PA-2016-
strategies, certain internal departments would attempt to convince the 006-130108
ConOps developers to sway the recommendations in their favor—giving • PennDOT Point of Contact:
Chief of Transportation
them ultimate control over the final system. These internal turf wars had Operations
the potential to steer the agency toward a potential solution that might
not have been optimal.

Cases
Case K
Virginia DOT’s Pavement

Monitoring Program
The Virginia Department of Transportation’s
(VDOT’s) pavement management systems and tools
were developed to provide network-level needs
assessment and maintenance prioritization support, as
well as project-level insights to guide detailed project
development and delivery. In 2012, VDOT recognized
a need to strengthen the links between the decision-
support tools and analysis, and field project selection.
The objective was to better ensure the alignment of
investment decisions with the established statewide
performance targets.
This case describes VDOT’s implementation of a

pavement performance target monitoring program,
which formalized the methodology for establishing
district-specific pavement performance targets and the
processes for monitoring paving project development
and execution toward these district-specific targets.
Through routine monitoring of planned paving
outcomes in comparison to the established measures,
VDOT is able to provide early warning of any
anticipated deviations, allowing district pavement
managers time to adjust project plans as needed.


Overview
VDOT has a well-established pavement management methodology that
includes annual pavement condition collection and needs assessment,
establishment of statewide pavement condition targets, and a
performance-based budgeting process. VDOT’s Central Office
Maintenance Division has responsibility for data collection and analysis;
districts have primary responsibility for pavement maintenance,
rehabilitation, and reconstruction project selection and development.

In order to implement the performance target monitoring program,
VDOT integrated data between its pavement management system (PMS)
and a separate application used at the district level to develop paving
contracts—the pavement maintenance scheduling system (PMSS). Planned
project information from PMSS is periodically transferred into the PMS,
where it can be used to evaluate projected outcomes of planned paving
against the established performance targets.

District paving status reports are compiled by Central Office Pavement
Management based on PMS analysis of current pavement condition
information, district-specific performance and paving targets, as well as
the most up-to-date planned project information available from PMSS.
The status reports provide a comparison of baseline performance and
paving targets with planned and/or actual work accomplishments from
the two systems. Reporting is completed at key milestones in the
development, execution, and delivery of a paving project:
• Routinely during project development,
• Immediately following project advertisement and award, and
• Routinely during the construction season.
The status reports provide aggregated statistics, as discussed below.
Baseline Performance Targets
These condition targets are established according to district and highway
system and are summarized from financially constrained PMS optimization
analysis results. These targets are established for the percentage of
pavement forecasted to be in “Fair” or better condition (termed the
“percent sufficient”) based on the state pavement condition measure.

Cases
Baseline Paving Targets

Paving targets are based on the same analysis results used to establish the
baseline performance targets, however they identify the total lane miles to
be paved within each of VDOT’s four treatment categories: Preventative
Maintenance (PM), Corrective Maintenance (CM), Restorative
Maintenance (RM), and Reconstruction/Major Rehabilitation (RC). It is
important to note that each of these treatment categories represents a
range of specific pavement maintenance actions, which are selected on a
project-specific basis, at any eligible locations within the network.
Planned Paving
This is the number of lane miles scheduled in each of the four VDOT
treatment categories, calculated based on detailed planned project
information imported from the PMSS. These are presented for
comparison to the baseline paving targets, as aggregated from district
planned pavement maintenance projects.
Projected Performance of Planned Paving
Based on the district’s planned paving locations and treatment selections
(as imported from PMSS), these targets are summarized from PMS
condition forecasting based on current conditions, network-level
deterioration modeling, and the modeled benefits of planned paving. The
results are presented to provide the predicted percentage sufficient for
comparison to the baseline performance targets.
Flagged Treatment Locations
District pavement treatment selections are flagged if they are substantially
different from the unconstrained need identified by the PMS based on
detailed pavement condition, pavement structure performance, and traffic
information available for the location.
Specifically, a location is flagged if the district’s planned treatment differs
more than a single treatment category from the unconstrained need (e.g.,
a PM treatment is planned where unconstrained needs analysis suggests
RM is needed). This ensures that the district is making reasonable
project-level maintenance decisions at the locations selected for
investment, while providing the flexibility to allow project-level
adjustment where necessary.
Actual Work Accomplishments
As planned paving is advertised, awarded, and delivered, it is necessary to
follow up on actual work accomplishments to ensure these plans are


ultimately constructed. Currently, this process requires pen-and-paper

data collection in the field, followed by manual update of the PMS.
However, this will become a more viable part of the performance
monitoring process as tools to support GIS-based field validation of
planned paving and automated data transfer to the PMS are implemented.

These reports are intended to drive project-level decision making in each
of the districts toward an optimal “mix of fixes” based on the district’s
current pavement condition and pavement maintenance allocations in a
way that balances statewide, network-level strategy and decision-support
analysis with project-level engineering and decision making.
Metrics surrounding planned projects vs. targets are the emphasis in
quarterly reporting meetings, as this is where VDOT pavement
management staff have the most control over possible outcomes.
By providing routine comparison of expected outcomes of planned work
to district-specific paving and performance targets, VDOT pavement
managers are provided the information necessary to ensure the district’s
project-level decision making is in alignment with network-level pavement
management strategy and goals. This is accomplished in a manner that is
objective and transparent and allows for iterative improvement of both
district decision-making processes and Central Office network-level
decision-support tools.
Figure 33 shows a sample district status report. This report highlights
• Current, targeted, and predicted paving performance;
• Predicted performance and planned paving as compared to baseline targets; and
• Expected outcomes of the district’s current plans.
This information is all included as part of the standardized reporting
products, which are discussed within regular paving status meetings.

Cases
Figure 33. Sample pavement monitoring report.
A district pavement manager is expected to use the reported information

to address discrepancies between district-specific project plans and
network-level goals for their program. In this example, the district
manager would quickly identify that current plans achieve the


performance goals for the Interstate system, however, the primary

system will underperform if current plans are not improved.
By reviewing the differences between planned and targeted paving by
treatment category, the pavement manager should see that a reasonable
explanation for the underperformance of the primary system is that the
current maintenance program is overemphasizing RC at the expense of
low cost, effective PM and CM treatments. By acting to reduce planned
RC to allow funding of more cost-effective maintenance strategies, the
district should be able to bring the predicted performance of the primary
system closer to the desired performance target.
Additionally, a tabular report is provided that flags any locations where
the district-selected maintenance treatment does not reasonably align
with the PMS unconstrained treatment recommendations. In this case,
the district pavement manager could review this report to identify
locations where a costlier treatment has been planned over the PMS-
recommended maintenance treatment. This may allow for efficiencies to
be identified, generating savings that could be used for additional
maintenance on the primary system.
Success Factors
• Planning and data modeling to facilitate system integration.
Through iterative improvement of both PMS and PMSS data models
over the course of several years, automated processes to transfer
information between these two systems have been developed.
• Tapping into available data sources. Optimal selection, planning,
and execution of maintenance projects are the most direct ways for a
DOT to improve asset conditions on their network. VDOT
identified the information available during project development and
execution that could be used to predict the influence of planned
paving on the network-level performance and made this information
available to PMS analytical tools. This allowed the department to
integrate network analysis with project decision making without
additional data collection or reporting burden to district staff.
• Linking paving schedules to performance targets. Arming
district pavement managers with the information needed to
understand network-level implications of project-level investment
decisions reinforces good pavement management practice. Field input
generated through elevated attention to the PMS analysis also
exposed previously unrecognized opportunities to improve the
decision-support tools.

Cases
• Building report review into business processes. Pavement

target monitoring analysis is integrated into the project development
process through an easily consumed reporting format and in a way
that is respectful of field decision makers’ local experience and
expertise. The information in these reports is the focus of quarterly
performance meetings, as well as routine status meetings with
Central Office Pavement Management program leaders, which
ensures district attention and action.

VDOT faced challenges bridging network-level analysis to project-level
decisions in a manner that would support routine execution as part of
the pavement target monitoring process.
Bridging PMS analysis to project decision making. VDOT worked
to balance the use of the network-level analysis to ensure that decision
quality would not be reduced through overly prescriptive use of
network-level analysis and that distrust of modeling output would not
develop where network analysis did not align with the project-level
observations.
Automation of data exchange. An efficient process to translate
planned paving information from PMSS to the PMS was required. For more information...
Developing a solution required significant effort on the part of IT and
• VDOT Point of Contact:
business staff to review and update existing data models, as well as
Maintenance Division Assistant
address location referencing issues between the two systems. Proactive Division Administrator, State
engagement of IT and/or Enterprise Architecture staff to help identify Infrastructure
formal, sustainable solutions to the exchange of information between
established IT systems is recommended.

Appendix A: Capabilities
Checklists

Appendix A
Step 1: Specify & Define Data

Determine what types of data are needed, how data will be used Gaps & Improvement Ideas
within TPM business processes, and, based on this, specify attributes,
scope, level of spatial granularity, and frequency of updates.
Basic
o The business need for data has been identified and
documentation of this need is available for future reference.
o An inventory of existing agency data sources has been
compiled.
o Managers of the units responsible for data collection can
describe the primary users and uses of that data.
o Data requirements to meet internal and external performance
reporting requirements are defined and documented—
including attributes, scope, and granularity.
o Location referencing methods for performance data are
established to enable linkages with other agency data sets.
o Updated frequencies for new data are defined and
documented.
o Authoritative data sources have been designated for
performance measure calculations.
Advancing
o Discussions about data requirements are not constrained by
the status quo—they reflect what is important to know about
transportation performance in order to improve.
o Data needs are identified to support the entire TPM cycle
(beyond performance reporting), including root cause analysis,
identification and prioritization of improvements, and
evaluation of impacts.
o Minimum data quality standards are established considering
timeliness, accuracy, completeness, consistency, and
accessibility.
o Data requirements are defined collaboratively across business
units, including GIS and IT.
o Data communities of interest (or equivalent) have been
established to identify data improvements to support different
business needs.
Appendix A 135


Step 2: Obtain Data

Acquire the data needed to support the entire TPM process including Gaps & Improvement Ideas
data needed to calculate performance measures, understand trends, set
realistic targets, and improve performance.
Basic
o Data collection procedures and protocols are defined and documented.
o Data collection and processing workflows are mapped to clearly assigned
responsibilities and deadlines.
o Existing agency data sources are reviewed prior to collection of new
data.
o Available external (public and private) data sources are reviewed prior
to collection of new data.
o Quality management procedures are defined and documented, including
training and certification for data collection personnel.
o Requirements are in place that ensure new data collection adheres to
agency location referencing standards.
o Impacts of changes to existing data collection methods are assessed to
minimize loss of consistent trend data and disruption to existing reports.
o Data sources are assessed to understand usage restrictions that may
limit value.
Advancing
o The full cost of new data acquisition is estimated—considering initial
collection, ongoing updates, and supporting staff and technology
infrastructure.
o Funding for regular data updates (beyond the initial collection) is planned
and committed.
o There is regular communication with partner agencies to identify
opportunities for collaboration on data collection.
o Periodic scans are conducted to identify ways to improve data quality
and collection efficiency.
o Agency guidance and/or coordination protocols have been established to
assist business units wishing to purchase commercial data sources.
o Specialists with appropriate expertise (in-house or contractors) evaluate
use of emerging private data sources.
o Data requirements are defined with consideration of opportunities to
create valuable information through integration of multiple data sources.
136 Appendix A

Appendix A
Step 3: Store & Manage Data

Determine where and how to store the data, how much data to keep, Gaps & Improvement Ideas
how data can be integrated across repositories, and which best
practices should be implemented for QA and documentation.
Basic
o Data needed for TPM is stored in databases that are managed and
regularly backed-up to provide protection from unauthorized
access and corruption.
o Back-ups are tested on a regular, established cycle (e.g., monthly).
o Quality control procedures are in place to flag records that do not
meet established validation criteria.
o Data dictionary information (metadata) is maintained and stored in
a standardized fashion.
o Annual data snapshots are created for coordinated reporting
across data programs.
Advancing
o Hardware and software requirements for data storage, updating,
integration, and access are understood.
o Central data repositories have been established to integrate data
from multiple sources and provide source data for reporting and
analysis.
o Cloud and hosted storage options are considered for larger and
more complex data sets.
o Data retention policies and archiving protocols have been updated
to reflect lower storage costs and analysis of TPM business data
needs.
o A range of data storage options are available to support databases
with high transaction volumes and memory-intensive calculations
as well as archived data retained for future use.
o Standards have been adopted to enable combining data from
different sources.
o Data from multiple sources are fused to assemble a more
complete and accurate data set than would be possible from any
single source.
o Where appropriate, edge computing techniques are used,
involving data processing at the source (e.g., at the site of the
field sensor) rather than within a centralized repository.
Appendix A 137


Step 4: Share Data

Share transportation performance data across business units within an Gaps & Improvement Ideas
agency, across agencies, or with the general public.
Basic
o Employees are aware of key performance data sources within
the agency.
o There are clear agency policies in place that data should be
shared unless the need to protect it is demonstrated.
o There are protocols defined for how to share data to meet
different needs that consider use of state and federal open data
portals and hosted or cloud solutions.
o Open data portals are used to share data.
o Data explanations are provided in “plain English” to help users
understand meaning, sources, and limitations.
Advancing
o Data governance and stewardship structures have been
established to facilitate communication about data sharing and
identify opportunities for synergies across business units for
collaborating or combining data sources.
o Data sharing agreements are used (internal to an agency and
between an agency and its partners) that specify what data will
be shared, when and how—and establish a clear understanding
of data limitations and expectations for use.
o Data are shared in formats that are designed to meet the needs
of different users, which may include standard reports, data
feeds, and dashboards.
o Data with sensitive elements are sanitized for public
distribution.
o Data contracts and sharing agreements are reviewed to ensure
that agency flexibility is retained.
138 Appendix A

Appendix A
Step 5: Analyze & Use Data

Use analysis tools to convert data into information, identify intended Gaps & Improvement Ideas
uses and users for these tools, designate one or more individuals to
develop specialized experience with these tools, and use these tools
to support decision making.
Basic
o Analysts are aware of and taking advantage of existing commercial
off-the-shelf, open source, and publicly available tools for analysis,
visualization, forecasting, and scenario analysis.
o Analysts are trained in use of data analysis and visualization tools.
o Private-sector or university contractors are used to provide data
analysis services as alternatives to standing up analysis capabilities
in-house.
o Data are available that are sufficiently accurate to meet analysis
requirements.
o Visualization and analysis tools are used to explore and discover
data anomalies and limitations.
o Data preparation and analysis tasks are well defined and planned to
ensure sufficient calendar time and staff resources.
o Analysts are able to identify trends and causal factors.
o Data element meanings, data transformations, and analysis
assumptions are documented.
Advancing
o Predictive models for key transportation performance measures
are validated based on multiple cycles of application.
o Targets are established based on predictive analysis relating
revenues and programmed work to performance results.
o Data mining is conducted to support “back-casting”—which
involves starting with a future vision and analyzing current and
historical data to estimate changes required to move from the
current situation to the future vision.
o Cooperative arrangements across agencies have been established
to transform data into information (e.g., the state DOT performs
analysis of travel-time reliability, computes measures for each
facility, and provides the data for use by MPOs and local agencies).
o Predictive analytics and machine learning techniques are applied for
predicting asset failure probabilities and other performance
measures.
Appendix A 139


Step 6: Present & Communicate Data

Interpret performance results, develop effective ways of Gaps & Improvement Ideas
communicating narratives based on the data, create visualizations in a
variety of formats, and identify needs for data improvement or
augmentation.
Basic
o Managers and analysts meet to review and interpret performance
results.
o Story lines for performance results are developed, reviewed, and
communicated.
o Training is offered to internal staff to build skills in data
presentation and communication.
o Staff have capabilities to present data in a variety of formats
tailored to the needs of different audiences, including heat maps,
thematic maps, timelines, and other infographics.
o A combination of narrative and graphical presentation is used to
communicate performance information.
Advancing
o Feedback from data consumers is sought and used to improve
communication of information to different target audiences.
o Individuals with expertise in data visualization and communication
are available to support development of performance data
products.
o Social media is used to communicate key results or draw people to
more detailed communication products.
o Specialized visualization and analysis environments have been
developed—e.g., virtual reality simulators.
140 Appendix A

Abbreviations and acronyms used without definitions in TRB publications:

A4A Airlines for America
AAAE American Association of Airport Executives
AASHO American Association of State Highway Officials
AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ACI–NA Airports Council International–North America
ACRP Airport Cooperative Research Program
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
APTA American Public Transportation Association
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers
ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials
ATA American Trucking Associations
CTAA Community Transportation Association of America
CTBSSP Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program
DHS Department of Homeland Security
DOE Department of Energy
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
FAA Federal Aviation Administration
FAST Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (2015)
FHWA Federal Highway Administration
FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
FRA Federal Railroad Administration
FTA Federal Transit Administration
HMCRP Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991
ITE Institute of Transportation Engineers
MAP-21 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (2012)
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASAO National Association of State Aviation Officials
NCFRP National Cooperative Freight Research Program
NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program
NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NTSB National Transportation Safety Board
PHMSA Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
RITA Research and Innovative Technology Administration
SAE Society of Automotive Engineers
SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act:
A Legacy for Users (2005)
TCRP Transit Cooperative Research Program
TDC Transit Development Corporation
TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (1998)
TRB Transportation Research Board
TSA Transportation Security Administration
U.S. DOT United States Department of Transportation

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Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance

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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2019. Management and

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NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 920

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NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 920

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COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS

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NCHRP PROJECT 08-108 PANEL

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Transportation Performance Management (TPM) is an established and maturing practice

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Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance Management:

Why This Guide?

causing transportation agencies to re-examine their

2 Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases

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Data are essential throughout the TPM process. Good quality

Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases 3

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Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance Management:

• New data management practices are being implemented agency-wide

4 Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases

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Relationship to Other TPM

Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases 5

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Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance Management:

Figure 1. The FHWA TPM framework.

6 Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases

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Framework for Improving

Figure 2. The data management cycle.

Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases 7

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Management and Use of Data for Transportation Performance Management:

Figure 3. Framework for improving data utilization for TPM.

8 Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases

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• Set up Reporting processes—establishing databases and reporting

Establish a Data Foundation

Set Up Reporting Processes

Gain Insights for Decision Making

Introduction • Foundation • Reporting • Insight • Cases 9

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