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OCR for page 74
Chapter 3: Measurement
Frequently, this information will also be available within the
agency's GIS. Like terrain data, roadway attribute data will need
to be combined with information regarding outcomes and
resource usage in order to support benchmarking.
OUTPUT MEASURES
The discussion so far has ignored output measures because they
are not focused on what the customer gains from road
maintenance. Output measures, as stated above, are used to
record maintenance production--for example, the miles of
pavement resurfaced per day or the number of feet of guardrail
repaired. Even though output measures are not focused on the
customer, you will want to add output measures to your set of
outcome, resource usage, and hardship measures. There are a
number of reasons to do so:
A way to establish comparability. Output measures
provide a means to access the scale of activity of a
benchmarking unit and therefore provide a more
informed basis for comparing performance. For example,
one benchmarking unit may resurface only 10 miles of
pavement per year, whereas another may resurface 100
miles. These benchmarking units are not really
comparable.
Surrogates for outcome measures. Reliable, repeatable,
accurate, and reasonable-cost outcome measures may not
be available in some instances. You may want to use an
output variable as a proxy for an outcome variable. For
example, you may not be able to estimate the degree to
which damaged guardrail replacement along a stretch of
highway saves lives. Instead, you may simply use the
linear feet of damaged guardrail replaced as a proxy for
fatalities avoided, in the rare event that a vehicle crashes
into a previously damaged guardrail.
Utility for productivity measurement. Even though you
should remain focused on the customer, it will be
important to analyze the productivity of crews and other
work units. Output information is essential for analyzing
productivity. You may also want to estimate production
functions that predict output as a function of labor,
equipment, material, and environmental factors.
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Linkage to outcomes. Some analysts find that the most
logical way to establish a measure of certain types of
outcomes is to establish a functional relationship between
outputs and various types of outcomes. Under this
approach, output data is essential to establishing
outcomes.
In preparing to benchmark, you will need to assess the role that
output information will play in customer-driven benchmarking
and related analysis. You will need output data and measures--
even if you are focused on outcomes.
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