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1Performance measurement has become increasingly com- mon at transportation agencies as they strive to improve their understanding of the outcomes of investments in the trans- portation system and as citizens increasingly require account- ability for actions. As performance measurement has become more common, there is increased recognition that individual agencies cannot address the transportation systems they are responsible for in a vacuum, but must coordinate and interact with other agencies to address the network performance im- plications of their decisions. Network performance measurement is an attempt to evalu- ate the transportation system as a whole, considering all modes of transportation, all potential strategies (e.g., capital versus operational investments), and all jurisdictions (e.g., state, regional, and local). Network performance measurement involves breaking down the silos between different investment approaches and attempting to consider tradeoffs and efficien- cies across systems. Agencies have become interested in network performance both because of a recognition that investments made on one mode or jurisdiction may affect the performance of other modes or jurisdictions and because limited resources are creating a need to invest transportation resources as effi- ciently as possible. Purpose of the Guidebook This guidebook provides an introduction to network per- formance measurement oriented toward transportation plan- ning practitioners. It will help agencies begin to understand ⢠The potential uses and benefits of considering network performance measurement and ⢠How agencies can begin to adopt and implement network performance measures. Though many transportation agencies understand the inter- relationship of various components of the transportation sys- tem, relatively few have attempted to work outside of existing silos to consider tradeoffs and efficiencies in investments. Most transportation funding comes with strings attached and pro- gram managers are naturally reluctant to invest in other pro- grams or agencies, given needs that typically outstrip available resources. Network performance measures can provide critical infor- mation to help decisionmakers understand better how their choices impact fundamental outcomes for the transportation system as a whole and for their customers. Without clear and useful information, breaking through existing barriers will always be a challenge. Organization of the Guidebook The guidebook provides an introduction to network per- formance measurement and examples of how network per- formance measurement can be applied to specific scenarios. Chapter 2 describes network performance and how it can be applied to address congestion and other transportation challenges. This section will likely be of interest to all be- cause it defines network performance and describes how to apply it. Chapters 3 through 7 provide windows into the im- plementation of network performance measures through a set of scenarios. These sections apply the framework de- scribed in Chapter 2, and readers will likely be interested in only the scenarios relevant to their situations. The scenarios are introduced in Chapter 2. Finally, Chapter 8 summarizes the findings of the analysis and provides a set of recom- mended steps for beginning to address network performance measurement. C H A P T E R 1 Introduction
