Measures for Environmental Sustainability Outcomes of Transportation Agencies

Sustainability and performance management are increasingly politically relevant topics, and while the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) goals of safety, infrastructure state of good repair, and economic development are known to be central to the mission of transportation agencies as well as well represented in their performance reporting, the non-traditional goals of livability and environmental sustainability are less well defined, are not commonly measured, and have yet to reach a level of pervasiveness within state DOTs. The study of public sector performance systems reveals that non-traditional measures of transportation measures that do not match closely with the historical DOT mission to provide mobility for people and goods are often left unmeasured and unlikely put to meaningful use. This report examines the current state of sustainability measurement guidance from international, national, and state perspectives; assesses commonly observed performance measures related to environmental sustainability and livability; and discusses ways to encourage the purposeful use of performance measures through organizational learning techniques. While the evaluated measures do not directly meet all requirements of their respective criteria, these criteria will help state DOTs develop potentially stronger measures going forward.

• Record URL:
  http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/docs/178UWY2.2%20_Summary%20and%20Final%20Technical%20Report.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)

  University of Wisconsin, Madison
  1415 Engineering Drive, 2205 Engineering Hall
  Madison, WI  United States  53706

  NEXTRANS

  Purdue University
  3000 Kent Avenue
  Lafayette, IN  United States  47906-1075

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Adams, Teresa
  • Moynihan, Daniel
  • Zietlow, Benjamin
  • Fok, Jonathan
  • Miller, Eli
  • Oberhart, Eric
  • Schumann, Emma
  • Wang, Fei
• Publication Date: 2017-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 69p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Environmental policy; Performance measurement; Quality of life; State departments of transportation; Sustainable development
• Uncontrolled Terms: Organizational learning
• Subject Areas: Environment; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01646171
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NEXTRANS Project No. 178UWY2.2, CFIRE 10-06
• Contract Numbers: DTRT12-G-UTC05; Sub agreement #4108-47674
• Files: UTC, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 18 2017 9:58PM