Performance-based project selection: 4 strategies for DOTs and MPOs
Due to limited funding and the need to use taxpayer dollars wisely, state, regional, and local agencies are adopting performance-based prioritization methods to guide transportation investment decisions and achieve key outcomes.
Four primary ways successful agencies are maximizing their ROI and delivering optimal outcomes
- Clearly define and articulate goals.
- Implement project prioritization techniques to evaluate and rank proposed transportation projects based on their alignment with those goals.
- Establish a feedback loop to determine if the investment has accomplished the intended outcomes.
- Engage stakeholders in each step of the process.
We’ve broken each of these elements out below to provide actionable insights for state DOTs and MPOs.
Goals & performance measures:
Agencies are integrating project prioritization into Long-Range Transportation Plans (LRTPs) and Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs). A starting point is to first establish clear goals and identify appropriate performance measures to track progress toward these goals. By focusing on a limited number of goals, agencies ensure that the highest priorities are addressed efficiently.
Performance measures are then developed using data that can be analyzed to assess progress toward outcomes. For example, if the goal is to increase safety, the performance measures might include reducing fatalities and serious injuries, with an additional focus on vulnerable road users. While state, regional, or organizational performance measures are a useful starting point for tracking system-level performance, project prioritization requires then establishing criteria for evaluating individual projects to align with these goals and measures.
Outcome-based prioritization:
Both within funding program categories and across entire investment programs and plans, agencies are using performance-based project prioritization and selection processes that focus on desired outcomes. Many have developed scoring systems that rank potential projects based on their likelihood of advancing the agency’s identified goals.
Such multi-criteria decision-making processes involve scoring projects—often utilizing geospatial system performance data to give the greatest weight to projects that address the most critical performance needs in relation to each goal. For example, higher scores are given to projects that enhance safety in areas with high bicycle and pedestrian crash rates and that enhance infrastructure in locations with poor pavement or bridge condition.
The scoring can also incorporate information related to project features and likely impacts, such as whether a project enhances multimodal travel options or supports potential economic development in economically distressed communities. Outcome-based project prioritization processes help communities evaluate and select the most effective and efficient strategies to achieve their goals.
Feedback loop:
While project prioritization processes are typically forward-looking and designed to help select projects for funding, it is valuable for transportation agencies to also look back and evaluate whether transportation projects meet their intended objectives. Post-project evaluation helps in communicating the benefits of projects in relation to goals and leads to continuous enhancement, enabling agencies to learn from previous projects and improve their project prioritization methodologies and criteria.
Project and program evaluation can be challenging, even when collecting before-and-after data, due to external factors that affect performance and uncertainties about the contribution of individual investments. A comprehensive feedback loop can identify areas where the project prioritization process may not meet expectations, providing insights into possible enhancements and promoting a culture of innovation and adaptability within the agency.
Communication and engagement:
Effective engagement and communication with stakeholders is crucial throughout these steps for developing an effective project prioritization process and for building trust and ensuring transparency. One of the biggest challenges in developing a project prioritization scoring approach is how to assign weights across diverse goal areas, covering issues from safety to mobility to environmental quality and more.
Engaging transportation stakeholders and the public plays a critical role in establishing weights for goal areas, determining how to prioritize diverse goals, and gaining buy-in to the approach. Moreover, by clearly communicating the prioritization process and outcomes, agencies can demonstrate their commitment to aligning investments with community needs and priorities. This openness enables valuable input that can refine and enhance the process over time and ensure that it is both data-driven and driven by community values and public priorities. Furthermore, effective communication helps the public understand how decisions are made, creating a foundation for accountability and building trust in public agencies.
Planning and performance management
Developing data-driven and performance-based plans is extremely valuable for transportation agencies, especially given limited funding and large competing needs for funding. We conduct data-driven analysis to score projects as part of developing prioritization processes. For example, we supported the development of LRTP project prioritization methods for the East-West Gateway Council of Governments and have been working with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority to update its TIP project prioritization methods to align with its latest transportation plan goals.
An effective prioritization process can help projects rise to the top that meet multiple community goals and maximize the value of investments. Congress recognized the value of project prioritization by funding the Federal Highway Administration’s Project Prioritization Pilot Program to help strengthen these processes, and all state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and other transportation agencies can use planning funds to develop or enhance their processes.
With potential additional flexibility in federal transportation funding in the future, transportation agencies may have more choices than ever when making investment decisions, including across different modes like roadways, transit, bicycling, and walking. By leveraging these four approaches, DOTs and MPOs can effectively prioritize projects that deliver maximum value and achieve their goals.