National Academies Press: OpenBook

A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies (2011)

Chapter: Chapter 9 - Summary and Additional Resources

« Previous: Chapter 8 - Examples of Practice in Sustainability Measurement
Page 47
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Summary and Additional Resources." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14598.
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Page 47
Page 48
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Summary and Additional Resources." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14598.
×
Page 48
Page 49
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 9 - Summary and Additional Resources." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14598.
×
Page 49

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Summary and Additional Resources 47 Chapter 9 Summary and Additional Resources This gu ideb ook provides a f le xi bl e fr am ewor k t hrough wh ic h t rans porta ti on agencie s c an ap pl y th e c on c ept s o f sust ainab ili ty th rough per fo rm anc e meas ur em en t . Th e guidebook and a ccom pany in g ma teri al s p rovi de th e resources neede d t o successf ully impl em en t t he fr am ework. SUMMARY While many transportation agencies recognize the importance of sustainability, they often struggle to apply the concepts of sustainability in their core activities. This guidebook provides a flexible framework through which transportation agencies can apply the concepts of sustainability through performance measurement. The guidebook provides the resources needed to establish and use sustainability performance measures and to gauge the effectiveness of strategies to address sustainability. The guidebook was developed keeping in mind that every transportation agency has different resources and goals and faces different challenges to incorporating sustainability. The topics covered include • Understanding the principles of sustainability and its relevance to transportation agencies; • Understanding the use of performance measurement for sustainability; • Describing how an agency can get organized and take a practical, phased approach to implementing performance measurement for sustainability, keeping the resources they have in mind; and • Understanding and applying the sustainability performance measurement framework. Various other tools and resources, such as a compendium of performance measures (included in Appendix B and as an electronic spreadsheet on the CD-ROM that accompanies this

48 A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies guidebook), a sustainability checklist, and information about existing performance measurement programs and best practices further support the guidance provided. The presentation materials included on the CD-ROM can also be used by your agency to develop an interactive workshop or gathering of a working group to develop performance measures. The final research report that accompanies this guidebook documents the theory, literature, and methodology of the research conducted in developing this user-friendly guidebook. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Some resources you can refer to as you use this guidebook include the detailed research report, the electronic material on the CD-ROM accompanying the guidebook (including the compendium of performance measures and presentation materials), and the appendices to this guidebook. Each of the appendices is described briefly in the following. Appendix A. Defining Sustainability for Your Agency – As discussed in this guide, developing a specific definition of “sustainability” or “sustainable transportation” is not a fundamental part of the SPM framework. This appendix provides a generally applicable approach that agencies can use if they wish to develop a context-specific sustainability definition. Appendix B. Performance Measures Compendium – The objectives and performance measures contained in the electronic compendium are provided in text format in this appendix. The objectives and measures are organized by goal and focus area for ease of use. Appendix C. Electronic Compendium User Instructions – This appendix contains detailed instructions and screen captures to help users navigate the electronic compendium and filter, sort, and export objectives and performance measures to meet their specific requirements. Appendix D. Sustainability Performance Measure Examples – This appendix provides examples in practice for a selected set of performance measures from the compendium. For each goal, one measure per focus area has been illustrated by an example of a similar measure in use by a transportation agency. Appendix E. Data Sources – This appendix lists some generic resources for data that may be used to support many of the performance measures included in the compendium. Only data sources that may be relevant for a large number of agencies have been included since many others are likely specific to a particular agency or state. Appendix F. Case Studies and Rating Systems Summaries – This appendix contains one-page summaries of the 14 case studies conducted as part of this research project, along with detailed descriptions of eight popular transportation sustainability rating systems that were studied. Appendix G. Project Overview and Interactive Workshop Material – This appendix provides an overview of the presentation and materials included on the CD-ROM of electronic materials accompanying the guidebook. The materials are based on those used by the research team to introduce the main concepts contained in the guidebook and provide hands-on training in using the compendium to identify and develop performance measures.

Summary and Additional Resources 49 Appendix H. Glossary – A glossary of terms used throughout the guidebook and report is provided to assist readers and practitioners.

Next: Appendix A - Defining Sustainability for Your Agency »
A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies Get This Book
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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 708: A Guidebook for Sustainability Performance Measurement for Transportation Agencies describes the underlying principles of sustainability as it relates to transportation, possible goals that can be used to address those principles, and performance measures that can be used to address those goals.

Aspects of sustainability-related performance measures, including data sources and examples of use, are discussed. A reference compendium of performance measures has also been provided.

In addition to the guidebook, the contractor’s project Final Report contains the results of the literature review, surveys of the state of the practice, case study interviews, detail on research methodology and findings, and a discussion of future research needs is available on the NCHRP Project 08-74 website.

A CD-ROM, included in the print version of the guidebook, contains an Excel-spreadsheet-based version of the performance measures compendium located in Appendix B of the guidebook. The spreadsheet allows the existing measures to be modified, and macros enable the user to generate and export a custom list of measures. Instructions for using the spreadsheet are found in Appendix C.

The CD-ROM is also available for download from TRB’s website as an ISO image. Links to the ISO image and instructions for burning a CD-ROM from an ISO image are provided below.

Help on Burning an .ISO CD-ROM Image

Download the .ISO CD-ROM Image(Warning: This is a large file and may take some time to download using a high-speed connection.)

An article on NCHRP Report 708 was published in the January-February 2013 issue of the TR News.

CD-ROM Disclaimer - This software is offered as is, without warranty or promise of support of any kind either expressed or implied. Under no circumstance will the National Academy of Sciences or the Transportation Research Board (collectively “TRB’) be liable for any loss or damage caused by the installation or operation of this product. TRB makes no representation or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, including without limitation, the warranty of merchantability or the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and shall not in any case be liable for any consequential or special damages.

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