National Academies Press: OpenBook

Accelerating Transportation Project and Program Delivery: Conception to Completion (2010)

Chapter: Chapter 6 - Implementation and Suggested Research

« Previous: Chapter 5 - Best Practices Case Study Reports
Page 87
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 6 - Implementation and Suggested Research." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Accelerating Transportation Project and Program Delivery: Conception to Completion. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14405.
×
Page 87
Page 88
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 6 - Implementation and Suggested Research." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Accelerating Transportation Project and Program Delivery: Conception to Completion. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14405.
×
Page 88

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

87 Implementation One intent of this research is for other states to learn and selectively adopt some of the identified best practices, and either incorporate them into their core strategies or simply improve an aspect of their operations or organizational struc- ture. Over time, any small improvement may assist in deliv- ering projects sooner, providing efficiencies in other areas (budgets, schedule, strategy, etc.) that may not have been present before. Making this report available to state DOTs will greatly enhance their knowledge base of how a state DOT can make transformations to reach new plateaus of perform- ance. The following strategies can help disseminate this infor- mation through various formal and informal channels: • Publication in professional journals—Parts of the report or a summary may be published in professional journals such as TR News, Civil Engineering, CE News, and Roads and Bridges. Given the eight case studies, the information could be presented as an eight-part series in a number of ways. • Presentation at transportation conferences—Numerous conferences are held throughout the year for transporta- tion professionals. Presentation of these research findings can be presented at AASHTO and TRB conferences. Other types of transportation societies such as the American Society of Civil Engineers and American Society of High- way Engineers hold national conferences where new ideas, innovations, and methodologies are topics of discussion. These venues provide opportunities to learn about new and developing research. • Local transportation associations—Local chapters of the national societies mentioned previously also hold presenta- tions and meetings. Informal discussion of the report is one way to encourage more formal distribution of the report. Grassroots transportation/engineering organizations may present some opportunities for additional informal discus- sions on the topic. • Websites and webinars—Transportation websites offer more flexibility than other media for acquiring the latest news. The TRB website can post an article on this NCHRP report. The FHWA press releases can include an article about the NCHRP research or provide a link to a report summary. The state transportation agencies included in the case studies can make reference to this report on their own web- sites, and encourage upper management and key decision makers to read the report. Webinars are another option for distributing information about the research. Groups or individuals can log on at their computers to a webinar or series of webinars that discuss topics on a holistic approach to accelerating program and project delivery. Suggested Research Data Collection, Baselines, and Benchmarks Throughout the interviews with the states, one of the things that the research team requested was some form of quantifi- able data that could provide a measure of how much improve- ment in time the state DOT had experienced. For instance, if a state noted that it was able to deliver a project quicker because of a new process, it was asked how it measured that result and what the baseline duration was prior to implement- ing the new process. If a state noted that a new method reduced the timeline and the budget, the research team requested data regarding the reduction in time frame as well as how much the project came in under budget. Many states could provide some type of data that measured a small facet of the project, but very few states could provide a continuous stream of information that measured most aspects of their programs or projects. For example, design costs were available, but planning costs were difficult to ascertain because of the nature of the planning process, which requires exhaus- tive efforts in collaboration, coordination, and community outreach. While the construction cost for a given project was C H A P T E R 6 Implementation and Suggested Research

easy to obtain, a baseline to measure it against was not. An inventory of roadway data might exist within a state database— but no tool was in place to apply them on a system-wide basis. A state might have had information on one aspect of a proj- ect phase, such as the cost of construction, but not on another phase, such as the cost of environmental permitting. While this is such a broad topic to explore, many states have only begun to collect relevant information and set baselines. For such states, the passing of time will determine how they will use the data they are collecting today. Additionally, there is a lack of consistency in the data that is gathered. Each state must decide what data to collect and what purpose it will be used for. No two states share the same ratios of state-operated roadway miles per capita, per budget dollar, per VMT, or per square mile of area. This diversity of baseline data makes it difficult for researchers to get a better grasp of the programs’ and projects’ efficiencies from a purely numerical perspec- tive. Research is recommended in the types and level of data collected, their purposes and uses, and applications to current systems and decision making. Public–Private Partnerships In all cases, the reality of limited funding sources cannot be ignored. States continue to operate under the challenge of doing “more with less.” Some state DOTs have maximized their options for federal loans and bonds and must seek alter- native funding mechanisms. Common to a number of states is the use of PPPs. While PPPs require an allocation of risks, resources, and rewards, and collaborative efforts between state and private entity, such arrangements offer benefits that might otherwise not be realized. Success stories or lessons learned from states that have experienced PPPs should be developed into case studies and published. This may open up additional avenues for a state to explore as a means of shared revenue sources. Procurement Policies Many states are considering changes in procurement poli- cies and strategies to accelerate projects and programs. These policies often have deep rooted state and federal rules and reg- ulations that make change difficult. The concept of a single project manager that sees a project though from its initial ideas and concepts to the actual implementation and opening is now being considered by many states to provide a single source of contact and project team leader. The corollary to this concept is the idea that one multidiscipline engineering/planning firm is hired for all tasks from concept to completion. Procurement rules often prohibit this strategy in order to provide additional procurement opportunities or because of concerns that con- sultants will purposely consider larger projects to raise fees and revenue expectations for their firms. Considering new and innovative procurement options with well-thought-out scopes that require documentation of per- formance measures and costs may be a step to help accelerate projects and to better track and provide a detailed accounting of holistic project details. 88

Next: Chapter 7 - Conclusions »
Accelerating Transportation Project and Program Delivery: Conception to Completion Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 662: Accelerating Transportation Project and Program Delivery: Conception to Completion explores the experiences of eight state departments of transportation that made improvements in their project delivery and examines the lessons to be learned from their experiences.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!