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CHAPTER 2
The Benefits of Better
Transportation Cost
and Service Data
Program Management Improves
Local program managers need detailed and accurate data to be better managers. High-quality
data allows managers to more completely understand their own program's operations and to
provide more cost-effective services with limited resources. Detailed cost and service information
can do the following:
· Serve as a diagnostic tool that identifies specific areas of problems with performance, thus aid-
ing in day-to-day management decision-making.
· Assist in long-term planning and decision-making, such as requests for future funding from
state legislatures or local governments.
· Provide information to document transportation expenditures and meet other regulatory
requirements of funding agencies and other supervisory bodies.
In short, detailed information helps managers do a better job. There is a strong need to work
smarter in human service programs, especially in light of current serious financial constraints
in many states and communities. Techniques such as Management by Objectives, Continuous
Quality Improvement, Total Quality Management, and others are tools that rely on intensive
data collection efforts to assess and improve program performance. Accurate cost reporting
leads to better management of scarce resources.
Thus, fundamental reasons for collecting, analyzing, and reporting program data are to
· Assess your current performance (and to find ways to improve).
· Demonstrate to others that you're doing a good job (e.g., to assure funding sources that their
funds have been spent appropriately).
Accountability is a prime function of many data collection systems. However, to be truly use-
ful to staff members collecting the information, data collection for transportation services needs
to be focused on measurements of performance that provide information for operational deci-
sions by program managers. Performance measures provide a means by which management
may periodically assess performance, measure progress toward the achievement of goals and
objectives, and consider actions that may change the course of future events. Such actions may
result in the modification of policies, procedures, and processes. Other actions might lead to
operational changes including service enhancement or service cessation. Performance measures
are the key to answering the question, "What do I do now?"--particularly when it appears that
a problem is at hand. Indicators of performance can suggest corrective actions such as increases
or decreases in services, revenues, and staff, or modifications in procedures or other activities
(e.g., marketing or public relations).
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