Statewide Transportation Planning
Opportunities Exist to Transition to Performance-Based Planning and Federal Oversight
Gao ID: GAO-11-77 December 15, 2010
Through the statewide transportation planning process, states decide how to spend federal transportation funds--almost $46 billion in fiscal year 2009. Draft legislation to reauthorize federal surface transportation legislation would, among other things, revise planning requirements to recognize states' use of rural planning organizations (RPO) and require performance measurement. As requested, GAO examined (1) states' planning activities and RPOs' satisfaction that rural needs are considered, (2) states' planning challenges, (3) the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) approach to overseeing statewide planning, and (4) states' use of performance measurement and opportunities to make statewide planning more performance based. GAO analyzed planning documents; surveyed departments of transportation in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., and 569 RPOs; interviewed officials in 6 states; and held an expert panel on performance-based planning.
States conduct a variety of long- and short-range planning activities, and the majority of RPOs surveyed reported being generally satisfied that rural needs are considered. To develop required long-range statewide transportation plans (long-range plans), states conduct research activities, such as inventorying assets and modeling traffic. While the resulting plans generally include some performance elements, such as goals, many plans do not include performance targets. Such targets are not required, but prior GAO work shows that targets are useful tools to indicate progress toward achieving goals. To develop required short-range plans--state transportation improvement programs (STIP)--states assess needs and determine funding allocations. However, in selecting projects, states assigned greater importance to factors such as political and public support than to economic analysis of project benefits and costs. While the majority of surveyed RPOs reported being satisfied that their rural needs were considered, some RPOs reported less satisfaction with their role in allocating funds for rural areas. States commonly cited insufficient or uncertain funding to implement transportation projects among the primary challenges to long- and short-range planning. States also reported that involving the public and addressing transportation data limitations were significant long-range planning challenges. Short-range planning challenges included meeting federal requirements to demonstrate the availability of sufficient project funding and to update the STIP to reflect changes. USDOT has a limited role in the oversight of long-range plans, and pursuant to federal law, its STIP oversight focuses on states' compliance with procedures. Furthermore, USDOT is not required to review long-range plans, states are not required to update them on a schedule, and some states reported infrequent updates. For example, 10 states reported not updating plans since the most recent surface transportation authorization in 2005. Limited USDOT oversight and infrequent updates present risks, including the ineffective use of federal planning funds. For the STIP, USDOT's oversight focuses, as required, on states' compliance with federal planning procedures. Information on whether states achieve outcomes such as reducing congestion is limited. While states are not required to set performance outcomes in planning, most states reported using performance measurement in the areas of safety and asset condition. Several challenges limit broader use of performance measures, including identifying indicators for qualitative measures such as livability and collecting data across transportation modes. Through our expert panel and interviews, we identified several elements that could improve states' use of performance measures, including national goals, federal and state collaboration on developing performance measures, appropriate targets, and revised federal oversight focusing on monitoring states' progress in meeting outcomes. To make statewide planning more performance based, Congress should consider requiring states to update their long-range plans on a prescribed schedule, identifying outcomes for statewide planning and directing USDOT to assess states' progress in achieving them, and requiring USDOT and states to collaboratively develop performance measures. USDOT provided technical comments which we incorporated into the report as appropriate.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
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Phone:
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GAO-11-77, Statewide Transportation Planning: Opportunities Exist to Transition to Performance-Based Planning and Federal Oversight
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United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
Report to the Chairman, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, House of Representatives:
December 2010:
Statewide Transportation Planning:
Opportunities Exist to Transition to Performance-Based Planning and
Federal Oversight:
GAO-11-77:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-11-77, a report to the Chairman, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives.
Why GAO Did This Study:
Through the statewide transportation planning process, states decide
how to spend federal transportation funds”almost $46 billion in fiscal
year 2009. Draft legislation to reauthorize federal surface
transportation legislation would, among other things, revise planning
requirements to recognize states‘ use of rural planning organizations
(RPO) and require performance measurement. As requested, GAO examined
(1) states‘ planning activities and RPOs‘ satisfaction that rural
needs are considered, (2) states‘ planning challenges, (3) the U.S.
Department of Transportation‘s (USDOT) approach to overseeing
statewide planning, and (4) states‘ use of performance measurement and
opportunities to make statewide planning more performance based. GAO
analyzed planning documents; surveyed departments of transportation in
50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., and 569 RPOs;
interviewed officials in 6 states; and held an expert panel on
performance-based planning.
What GAO Found:
States conduct a variety of long- and short-range planning activities,
and the majority of RPOs surveyed reported being generally satisfied
that rural needs are considered. To develop required long-range
statewide transportation plans (long-range plans), states conduct
research activities, such as inventorying assets and modeling traffic.
While the resulting plans generally include some performance elements,
such as goals, many plans do not include performance targets. Such
targets are not required, but prior GAO work shows that targets are
useful tools to indicate progress toward achieving goals. To develop
required short-range plans-”state transportation improvement programs
(STIP)-”states assess needs and determine funding allocations.
However, in selecting projects, states assigned greater importance to
factors such as political and public support than to economic analysis
of project benefits and costs. While the majority of surveyed RPOs
reported being satisfied that their rural needs were considered, some
RPOs reported less satisfaction with their role in allocating funds
for rural areas.
States commonly cited insufficient or uncertain funding to implement
transportation projects among the primary challenges to long- and
short-range planning. States also reported that involving the public
and addressing transportation data limitations were significant long-
range planning challenges. Short-range planning challenges included
meeting federal requirements to demonstrate the availability of
sufficient project funding and to update the STIP to reflect changes.
USDOT has a limited role in the oversight of long-range plans, and
pursuant to federal law, its STIP oversight focuses on states‘
compliance with procedures. Furthermore, USDOT is not required to
review long-range plans, states are not required to update them on a
schedule, and some states reported infrequent updates. For example, 10
states reported not updating plans since the most recent surface
transportation authorization in 2005. Limited USDOT oversight and
infrequent updates present risks, including the ineffective use of
federal planning funds. For the STIP, USDOT‘s oversight focuses, as
required, on states‘ compliance with federal planning procedures.
Information on whether states achieve outcomes such as reducing
congestion is limited.
While states are not required to set performance outcomes in planning,
most states reported using performance measurement in the areas of
safety and asset condition. Several challenges limit broader use of
performance measures, including identifying indicators for qualitative
measures such as livability and collecting data across transportation
modes. Through our expert panel and interviews, we identified several
elements that could improve states‘ use of performance measures,
including national goals, federal and state collaboration on
developing performance measures, appropriate targets, and revised
federal oversight focusing on monitoring states‘ progress in meeting
outcomes.
What GAO Recommends:
To make statewide planning more performance based, Congress should
consider requiring states to update their long-range plans on a
prescribed schedule, identifying outcomes for statewide planning and
directing USDOT to assess states‘ progress in achieving them, and
requiring USDOT and states to collaboratively develop performance
measures. USDOT provided technical comments which we incorporated into
the report as appropriate.
View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-77] or key
components. To view the e-supplement online, click [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-78SP]. For more information,
contact Phillip R. Herr at (202) 512-2834 or herrp@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
State DOTs Conduct a Variety of Long-and Short-Range Planning
Activities, and Surveyed RPOs Are Generally Satisfied Their Needs Are
Considered:
Funding, Public Involvement, and Administrative Requirements Are the
Primary Challenges in Statewide Planning:
USDOT Has Limited Oversight Authority of Long-Range Statewide
Transportation Plans, and STIP Oversight Focuses on Process:
Most States Reported Making Some Use of Performance Measurement for
Planning, but a Performance-Based Framework Offers Opportunities to
Improve Statewide Planning:
Conclusions:
Matters for Congressional Consideration:
Agency Comments:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Appendix II: Information on the Participation of Rural Planning
Organizations in Statewide Transportation Planning:
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Tables:
Table 1: Number of State DOTs Reporting Using Performance Measurement
to Inform Decisions in the Statewide Planning Process in the Last 12
Months:
Table 2: Panelists on the GAO and National Academy Expert Panel:
Table 3: Transportation Planning Funds Received by RPOs by Source and
Amount:
Figures:
Figure 1: Statewide Transportation Planning Roles and Responsibilities:
Figure 2: Total State Apportionments of FHWA and FTA Statewide
Transportation Planning Funds, Fiscal Years 2000 through 2009:
Figure 3: Selected Elements State DOTs Reported Including in Their
Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plans:
Figure 4: Selected Factors State DOTs Reported Were of Great or Very
Great Importance in Decisions to Include Projects in the STIP:
Figure 5: State DOTs That Reported Having Written Contractual
Agreements with RPOs:
Figure 6: Percentages of RPOs That Reported Satisfaction and
Dissatisfaction with Their Ability to Participate in Selected
Statewide Planning Activities:
Figure 7: Number of State DOTs That Identified the Following among
Their Most Significant Challenges Encountered in Developing the Long-
Range Statewide Transportation Plan:
Figure 8: Number of State DOTs That Identified the Following among
Their Most Significant Challenges Encountered in Developing the STIP:
Figure 9: Number of Years between Updates of the Long-Range Statewide
Transportation Plan as Reported by State DOTs:
Figure 10: Great or Very Great Challenges to Using Performance
Measures for Transportation Planning Reported by State DOTs:
Figure 11: Survey Responses for Transportation Planning Activities
Conducted by RPOs:
Figure 12: Survey Responses for RPOs' Opinion of the Higher-Priority
Needs for the Nonmetropolitan Areas of Their Region:
Figure 13: Survey Responses for State DOT Activities Performed to
Consult with RPOs in the Statewide Planning Process:
Figure 14: Surveyed RPOs' Satisfaction with Their Ability to
Participate in State DOT Activities:
Abbreviations:
AASHTO: American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials:
FHWA: Federal Highway Administration:
FTA: Federal Transit Administration:
GHSA: Governors Highway Safety Association:
GPRA: Government Performance and Results Act of 1993:
HPMS: Highway Performance Monitoring System:
MDOT: Montana Department of Transportation:
MPO: metropolitan planning organization:
NHTSA: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
PennDOT: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation:
RPO: rural planning organization:
SAFETEA-LU: Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users:
state DOT: state departments of transportation:
STIP: state transportation improvement program:
SPR: FHWA's State Planning and Research Program:
SPRP: FTA's State Planning and Research Program:
TIP: transportation improvement program:
TIGER: Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery:
USDOT: U.S. Department of Transportation:
View GAO-11-77 key components:
Statewide Transportation Planning: Surveys of State Departments of
Transportation and Regional Planning and Development Organizations
(GAO-11-78SP), an e-supplement to GAO-11-77.
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
December 15, 2010:
The Honorable James L. Oberstar:
Chairman:
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure:
House of Representatives:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The statewide transportation planning process, administered through
each state's department of transportation (state DOT), is the forum
through which states decide how to spend significant amounts of
federal surface transportation funds. In fiscal year 2009, the U.S.
Department of Transportation (USDOT) apportioned almost $46 billion to
states and urbanized areas for highway and transit projects to be
developed through the statewide transportation planning process. This
amount included almost $36 billion for highway infrastructure projects
through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and approximately
$10 billion in transit grants to urbanized areas and states through
the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The statewide transportation
planning process is informed by transportation planning performed by
metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) that lead transportation
planning in urbanized areas--geographic areas with a population of
50,000 or more. Although states must comply with federal planning
requirements administered jointly by FHWA and FTA, states have
considerable discretion to allocate federal funds and select projects.
We recently reported that in fiscal years 2007 and 2008, all states
received more federal funding for highway programs than users
contributed to the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund, the
primary source of federal highway and transit funds.[Footnote 1] At
the same time, estimates of the costs to repair or upgrade aging
transportation infrastructure--as well as expand capacity to meet
increased demand--top hundreds of billions of dollars. Hence,
decisions made in the statewide transportation planning process are
critical to ensuring that limited federal transportation funds are
spent wisely and deliver intended results.
Funding for federal surface transportation programs, including
statewide transportation planning, is authorized under the Safe,
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy
for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which expired in September 2009. The Surface
Transportation Extension Act of 2010 extended the funding
authorization for SAFETEA-LU programs through December 31, 2010.
[Footnote 2] Congress is currently developing legislation for a new
surface transportation authorization. In recent years, we have asked
Congress to consider refocusing surface transportation programs to
make them more performance based.[Footnote 3] In 2009, the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure issued draft
legislation to reauthorize surface transportation programs that
proposes moving statewide transportation planning toward a more
performance-based framework.[Footnote 4] The draft legislation would
also recognize state-designated rural planning organizations (RPO)--
planning bodies representing areas with a population of less than
50,000 people--and direct states to coordinate with such organizations
in the statewide transportation planning process. To help inform
congressional efforts, you asked us to provide information on current
statewide transportation planning activities, challenges, and
oversight. Accordingly, we examined:
* planning activities conducted by state DOTs and the extent to which
RPOs are satisfied that rural needs are considered in statewide
planning,
* challenges encountered by state DOTs in carrying out planning
responsibilities,
* FHWA's and FTA's approach to overseeing statewide transportation
planning, and:
* the extent to which state DOTs are using performance measurement for
planning and opportunities to make statewide planning more performance
based.
To gather information for addressing all these issues, we reviewed and
analyzed federal and state planning documents and applicable laws and
regulations, and surveyed state DOTs in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico, receiving responses from 100 percent of
those surveyed.[Footnote 5] We also interviewed federal, state, and
local planning officials in Louisiana, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Washington state, and West Virginia. These states were selected to
obtain a diverse mix of planning contexts based on geography,
percentage of the population covered by MPOs, and stakeholder
recommendations, among other factors. To determine the extent to which
RPOs are satisfied that rural needs are considered in statewide
planning, we surveyed 569 regional planning and development
organizations in the 50 states to identify those organizations that
coordinate or conduct surface transportation planning in
nonmetropolitan areas, referred to as RPOs in this report.[Footnote 6]
We received responses from 409 organizations, or 72 percent of those
surveyed. To describe FHWA's and FTA's approach to overseeing
statewide transportation planning, we reviewed FHWA and FTA documents
and interviewed officials at USDOT headquarters, six FHWA division
offices, and four FTA regional offices. To identify opportunities to
make statewide planning more performance based, we convened a panel of
transportation planning experts through the National Academy of
Sciences, and we interviewed transportation planning stakeholders.
We conducted this performance audit from October 2009 through December
2010 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. See
appendix I for more detailed information on our scope and methodology
and appendix II for additional information on the results of our RPO
survey. In addition, see the electronic supplement to this report--
GAO-11-78SP--for a complete list of frequencies for questions from
both surveys.
We provided a copy of this report to USDOT for review and comment.
USDOT officials provided technical comments which we incorporated into
the report, as appropriate.
Background:
Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, is
required to carry out a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive
statewide transportation planning process. The statewide
transportation planning process addresses both urbanized and
nonmetropolitan areas of the state and includes both highway and
transit needs. For urbanized areas with a population of 50,000 or
more, state DOTs must coordinate planning activities with MPOs--
federally recognized and funded organizations representing local
governments that lead transportation planning activities in
metropolitan areas. To receive federal transportation funding, any
project in an urbanized area must emerge from the relevant MPO and
state DOT planning process. For nonmetropolitan areas not covered by
an MPO, states must consult with and provide opportunities for local
officials to participate in statewide planning. Some states choose to
fulfill this requirement by consulting with RPOs, which are typically
voluntary planning organizations that serve as a forum for local
officials to develop consensus on regional transportation priorities.
In some cases, RPOs may serve a wide geographic area comprising
multiple rural counties whose combined population may greatly exceed
50,000. States without RPOs may consult directly with nonmetropolitan
local officials with responsibility for transportation planning to
fulfill their consultation requirements.
To meet federal planning requirements, states must develop a long-
range statewide transportation plan[Footnote 7] and a state
transportation improvement program (STIP) (see figure 1). The long-
range statewide transportation plan establishes a state's strategic
vision and direction for its transportation investments for at least a
20-year period. This plan may vary in content from state to state,
from a broad, policy-oriented document to a document containing
specific project information. However, the plan must provide for the
development and implementation of a multimodal transportation system
for all areas of the state, and for public comment before it is
published. Currently, there are no requirements for the long-range
statewide transportation plan to include specific project information,
a financial plan demonstrating how the plan is to be funded and
implemented, performance measures for achieving goals, or a regularly
updated schedule, and the state is not required to obtain federal
approval for the plan. The STIP is the state program of transportation
projects covering at least a 4-year period that are to be supported
with federal surface transportation funds, as well as regionally
significant projects requiring an action by FHWA or FTA, whether or
not federally funded. Each project must be consistent with the long-
range statewide transportation plan and approved long-range
metropolitan transportation plans. The STIP must be fiscally
constrained, meaning it shall include a project, or an identified
phase of a project, only if full funding can reasonably be anticipated
within the time period contemplated for completion of the project.
Although federal planning statutes and regulations do not define
specific national goals or outcomes that states should address in
their planning documents, the statewide planning process must provide
for the consideration and implementation of specific statutorily
defined planning factors in developing both the long-range statewide
transportation plan and the STIP, which include economic vitality,
safety and security, accessibility and mobility, protecting and
enhancing the environment, and promoting energy conservation, among
others.[Footnote 8]
Figure 1: Statewide Transportation Planning Roles and Responsibilities:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustration]
State DOTs:
Long-range statewide transportation plan:
* Span: At least 20 years;
* Update cycle: As needed;
* Projects: None required;
* Fiscal constraint: None.
STIP:
* Span: At least 4 years;
* Update cycle: At least every 4 years;
* Projects: Contains descriptions of capital and noncapital
transportation projects, with some exceptions;
* Fiscal constraint: Identifies project costs and revenue sources.
Consultation with nonmetropolitan local officials:
* State DOTs must have a documented process for consulting with
officials in nonmetropolitan areas or tribes;
* Some states have RPOs that facilitate the input and participation of
local government officials and may develop their own long- and short-
range transportation plans.
MPOs:
Metropolitan transportation plan:
* Span: At least 20 years;
* Update cycle: At least every 4 or 5 years[A];
* Projects: Assesses capital investments and the existing
transportation system;
* Fiscal constraint: Identifies project costs and revenue sources;
TIP:
* Span: At least 4 years;
* Update cycle: At least every 4 years;
* Projects: Identifies federally supported projects or phases in a
project;
* Fiscal constraint: Identifies project costs and revenue sources.
FHWA and FTA Oversight:
* Long-range statewide transportation plan: FHWA and FTA do not
approve these plans, but copies must be provided to FHWA and FTA for
informational purposes;
* STIP: FHWA and FTA review a STIP every 4 years and make a joint
finding on the extent to which a STIP is based on a statewide
transportation planning process that meets or substantially meets
statewide and metropolitan planning requirements;
* MPO certifications: Not less than once every 4 years, FHWA and FTA
determine if the metropolitan planning process of an MPO serving an
urbanized area with population of more than 200,000 is compliant with
applicable federal requirements.
Sources: GAO analysis of federal planning requirements and FHWA and
FTA documents.
[A] MPOs are required to review and update the transportation plan at
least every 4 years in air quality nonattainment and maintenance areas
and at least every 5 years in attainment areas.
[End of figure]
MPOs are also required to produce a long-range transportation plan,
referred to as a metropolitan transportation plan, and a
transportation improvement program (TIP). The metropolitan
transportation plan spans at least 20 years and includes long-and
short-range strategies and actions to ensure an effective, integrated
multimodal transportation system. The TIP spans at least 4 years and
includes all projects in the MPO's jurisdiction that are to receive
federal surface transportation funding or that are of regional
significance. The TIP must, at a minimum, be updated every 4 years,
and the metropolitan transportation plan must be updated every 4 or 5
years.[Footnote 9] Both the TIP and the metropolitan transportation
plan must be fiscally constrained. In addition, MPOs serving urbanized
areas with a population of more than 200,000 are required to develop a
congestion management process that identifies actions and strategies
to reduce congestion. States participate in the metropolitan planning
process by, for example, reviewing and approving the MPO's TIP. If the
state approves the TIP, the state must incorporate it, without change,
into the STIP.
At least every 4 years, state DOTs are required to submit an updated
STIP to FHWA and FTA for review and approval, in which the state
certifies that the transportation planning process has been carried
out in accordance with federal planning requirements. FHWA and FTA
must review each state DOT's STIP and make a joint finding on the
extent to which the STIP is based on a planning process that meets or
substantially meets the federal planning requirements, including but
not limited to whether the state has demonstrated fiscal constraint in
the STIP, used a documented process for involving the public and
consulting with nonmetropolitan local officials, and included MPO TIP
projects in the STIP. USDOT is not required to review or approve long-
range statewide transportation plans, but states must provide copies
of any new or amended plans to USDOT for informational purposes.
[Footnote 10]
The Federal-Aid Highway Program is administered through a federal-
state partnership. State and local governments execute the programs by
matching and distributing federal funds; planning, selecting, and
supervising projects; and complying with federal requirements. FHWA,
through its division office in each state, delivers technical
expertise and fulfills oversight functions. Federal transit programs
are generally administered through a federal-local partnership,
although rural programs are administered at the state level. FTA,
through its headquarters and 10 regional offices, provides financial
assistance, establishes requirements, performs oversight, and conducts
research. Grant recipients such as local transit agencies are
responsible for matching federal funds and for planning, selecting,
and executing projects while complying with federal requirements.
In supporting the statewide transportation planning process, FHWA
provides states with the bulk of the federal funding for planning and
research (see figure 2). Through its State Planning and Research (SPR)
program, FHWA provides sums equal to 2 percent of each state's formula
apportionment for several Federal-Aid Highway programs.[Footnote 11]
In fiscal year 2009, FHWA provided states with a total of more than
$680 million in SPR funds. FHWA regulations give states significant
flexibility in applying SPR funds for planning--as long as FHWA has
determined that the state has collected data that FHWA requires on the
performance, condition, and use of the nation's transportation
systems, including the condition of road and pavement surfaces. These
data are collected through FHWA's Highway Performance Monitoring
System (HPMS) and they constitute some of the performance data that
states collect on the condition of their public roads.[Footnote 12] A
state may apply up to 75 percent of its annual SPR allocation to
activities of its choosing to support long-and short-range planning
requirements, but generally must expend no less than 25 percent of its
annual SPR funds on research, development, and technology transfer
activities. State DOTs may apply their SPR funds to in-house planning
activities or allocate amounts to support the planning activities of
MPOs, RPOs, or other planning partners.[Footnote 13] States must
document activities proposed to be accomplished with SPR funds, and
FHWA must approve these activities. FTA apportions planning funds to
states through its State Planning and Research Program (SPRP).
[Footnote 14] As with their SPR funds, states may authorize some of
their SPRP assistance to support the planning activities of MPOs,
local governments, or other planning organizations. State DOTs are
encouraged to provide FTA with an SPRP work program in their SPRP
grant applications.
Figure 2: Total State Apportionments of FHWA and FTA Statewide
Transportation Planning Funds, Fiscal Years 2000 through 2009:
[Refer to PDF for image: stacked vertical bar graph]
Fiscal year: 2000;
FHWA: $530 million;
FTA: $10 million;
Total: $540 million.
Fiscal year: 2001;
FHWA: $557 million;
FTA: $11 million;
Total: $568 million.
Fiscal year: 2002;
FHWA: $573 million;
FTA: $12 million;
Total: $585 million.
Fiscal year: 2003;
FHWA: $499 million;
FTA: $13 million;
Total: $512 million.
Fiscal year: 2004;
FHWA: $643 million;
FTA: $8 million;
Total: $651 million.
Fiscal year: 2005;
FHWA: $600 million;
FTA: $9 million;
Total: $609 million.
Fiscal year: 2006;
FHWA: $595 million;
FTA: $16 million;
Total: $611 million.
Fiscal year: 2007;
FHWA: $663 million;
FTA: $17 million;
Total: $680 million.
Fiscal year: 2008;
FHWA: $666 million;
FTA: $18 million;
Total: $684 million.
Fiscal year: 2009;
FHWA: $682 million;
FTA: $20 million;
Total: $702 million.
Source: FHWA and FTA notices.
Note: The FHWA planning funds depicted here are SPR program funds
authorized under 23 U.S.C. § 505, and the FTA planning funds are SPRP
funds authorized under 49 U.S.C. § 5305.
[End of figure]
In recent years, we have recommended that federal transportation
programs be based on well-defined goals and that planning be more
performance based and better linked to outcomes. We have previously
reported that, for many surface transportation programs, goals are
numerous and conflicting and federal oversight of these programs has
no relationship to the performance of either the transportation system
or of the grantees receiving federal funds.[Footnote 15] Performance
measurement, a central component of performance-based planning, is the
ongoing monitoring and reporting of program accomplishments. As our
prior work has shown, measuring performance allows organizations to
track the progress they are making toward their goals and gives
managers crucial information on which to base their organizational and
management decisions. Recently, we asked Congress to consider making
federal and metropolitan transportation programs more performance
based by requiring MPOs to identify specific transportation planning
outcomes and requiring DOT to assess MPOs' progress in achieving these
outcomes through a certification review process.[Footnote 16] Draft
legislation authorizing surface transportation programs would require
USDOT to set transportation planning performance measures for MPOs and
require MPOs to develop performance targets to meet those measures.
[Footnote 17] In addition, we have recommended that FHWA link its
activities and staff expectations to its oversight goals and measures
and to develop an overall plan for its oversight activities tied to
goals and measures.[Footnote 18]
State DOTs Conduct a Variety of Long-and Short-Range Planning
Activities, and Surveyed RPOs Are Generally Satisfied Their Needs Are
Considered:
State DOTs Conduct Several Research Activities to Develop Long-Range
Plans, but Many Plans Do Not Include Performance Elements and Project-
Specific Information:
Through our survey and interviews, we found that state DOTs commonly
conduct several research activities in developing their long-range
statewide transportation plans, including developing inventories and
reviewing existing transportation assets, conducting corridor studies,
and using transportation demand models. In addition, most state DOTs
reported that their long-range statewide transportation plans include
some performance-based planning elements, such as broad goals and
objectives for the state's transportation system, but most state DOTs
reported that their plans do not include other key elements, such as
quantitative performance targets and project and cost information.
Long-Range Planning Research Activities:
Developing inventories and reviewing existing transportation assets.
Forty-six state DOTs reported that they inventoried major elements of
their existing transportation system, such as interstate highways and
bridges, and 34 state DOTs reported that they reviewed the condition
of existing assets to determine those with the greatest need. USDOT
officials and transportation stakeholders told us that many state DOTs
have focused their statewide long-range planning efforts on
maintaining the condition and operation of their existing assets.
States must collect pavement condition and other data and annually
report these data to FHWA's HPMS program, generally using SPR funds to
pay for the data collection. States must also inspect and report on
the condition of their bridges, generally every 2 years, through
FHWA's National Bridge Inspection Program. As we previously reported,
many states use bridge management systems for gathering and analyzing
data on bridge conditions, such as structural adequacy and safety.
These systems help states manage their bridge assets and more
efficiently allocate limited resources among competing priorities.
[Footnote 19] For example, Pennsylvania DOT (PennDOT) and Montana DOT
(MDOT) maintain road and bridge management systems to track the
condition of pavement surfaces and the structural sufficiency of
bridges. MDOT reported that information generated by these systems is
used to track the actual performance of the highway system after
investments are implemented, to show progress in meeting long-range
goals.
Conducting corridor studies. In our survey, 34 state DOTs reported
conducting regional and statewide corridor studies for the statewide
planning process. Through corridor studies, state DOTs can focus their
research on roadways with critical importance by monitoring variables
such as traffic flow and congestion, trip time, and crash and safety
data. Federal planning regulations encourage states to consider
strategies to address corridors where congestion threatens the
efficient functioning of the state's transportation system.[Footnote
20] For example, officials with Colorado DOT reported that its long-
range plan is corridor-based, in that the state worked with MPOs and
RPOs across the state to define a vision for each of the 350 corridor
segments in the state and to establish need categories for each
corridor that consider financial abilities and limitations.
Using transportation demand models. In our survey, 29 state DOTs
reported using a statewide transportation demand model, also known as
a travel demand model, and about half of all state DOTs reported using
such models to develop scenarios to inform their long-range statewide
transportation plan. Used to forecast future travel demand, the models
provide planners with important information on how population growth
and proposed investments could affect the operation of the
transportation system. Such models, however, are complex and require
extensive technical capacity and current information on roadway and
transit system characteristics and operations, as well as current and
projected demographic information. According to stakeholders that we
interviewed, some states do not have sufficient data to produce travel
demand models that can be used to forecast future transportation needs
across the state. Some of the highway performance data that states
collect through FHWA's HPMS program could be useful for travel demand
modeling--including data on population and land area, the number of
vehicle miles traveled on some public roads, and the percentage of
vehicle miles traveled by various vehicle types. Officials from one
MPO we interviewed reported that statewide travel demand modeling is
less valuable than such modeling in MPO areas, where congestion is a
greater concern. To address modeling and other technical aspects of
planning, the vast majority of state DOTs (45) reported that they
procured contractor services in developing their statewide long-range
plans.
Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plan Elements:
Nearly all state DOTs reported including broad goals and objectives in
their long-range statewide transportation plans, but, according to our
survey, many plans do not include quantitative performance targets and
project-specific information, such as fiscally constrained financial
plans, project lists, and cost estimates (see figure 3). Although
federal statutes or planning regulations do not require states to
include quantitative performance targets in their long-range statewide
transportation plans, some states reported including them, and we have
previously reported that similar targets should be included in similar
strategic plans developed by federal agencies.[Footnote 21] In
addition, project-specific information is not required to be included
in long-range statewide transportation plans, although some states
provide these elements in their plans.
Figure 3: Selected Elements State DOTs Reported Including in Their
Long-Range Statewide Transportation Plans:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Element: Broad Goals;
Number of state DOTs: 52.
Element: Objectives;
Number of state DOTs: 50.
Element: Financial plan with fiscal constraint;
Number of state DOTs: 20.
Element: Quantitative performance targets;
Number of state DOTs: 18.
Element: Method for public to track progress;
Number of state DOTs: 13.
Element: Specific projects to be programmed;
Number of state DOTs: 13.
Element: Cost estimates for specific projects to be programmed;
Number of state DOTs: 12.
Source: State DOT survey.
Note: State DOTs also indicated that their long-range statewide
transportation plans provided additional elements that were not
included in this figure. For example, 36 state DOTs reported that
their long-range statewide transportation plans included a statewide
freight transportation strategy, 34 state DOTs reported that their
long-range statewide transportation plans included a statewide
intermodal transportation strategy, and 23 state DOTs reported that
their long-range statewide transportation plans identified regionally
significant projects. See the e-supplement--GAO-11-78SP--for
additional information.
[End of figure]
Broad goals and objectives. All 52 state DOTs reported including broad
state transportation goals, and nearly all (50) reported including
objectives in their long-range statewide transportation plans.
According to USDOT, goals represent the desired outcomes for the
transportation system as a whole, and objectives are specific,
measurable statements that identify what is to be accomplished in
order to attain the goals.[Footnote 22] Such goals and objectives in
long-range statewide transportation plans should lead to strategies
and investments that support the attainment of objectives. Federal
planning regulations do not establish specific national goals or
desired outcomes for states to address in their long-range statewide
transportation plans, although states must consider specific
statutorily defined planning factors in their planning process.
[Footnote 23]
Quantitative performance targets. Fewer state DOTs (18) reported
including quantitative performance targets to measure progress in
achieving state transportation goals. Although quantitative
performance targets are not federally required for long-range
statewide transportation plans, the Government Performance and Results
Act of 1993 (GPRA) requires federal agencies in their strategic plans
to develop performance goals that are objective, quantifiable, and
measurable, and to establish performance measures that adequately
indicate progress toward achieving those goals.[Footnote 24] Our
guidance to federal agencies developing GPRA-required annual
performance plans states that an agency's performance goals and
measures usually should include a quantifiable, numerical target level
or other measurable value.[Footnote 25] Although not required,
performance targets within long-range statewide transportation plans
could provide a performance standard by which the state DOT can
demonstrate to the public what effect its investment decisions are
having on achieving the goals established in the plan. Similarly, 13
state DOTs reported that their long-range statewide transportation
plan provides a method for the public to track progress in
implementing the plan. For example, PennDOT publishes an annual
implementation report that details actions for achieving plan
strategies and specific responsibilities and time lines for
implementing the plan.
Project-specific elements. The majority of state DOTs reported that
their long-range plans did not include project-specific information,
such as a financial plan describing how the plan would be funded,
project lists, or cost estimates. Specifically, fewer than half of all
state DOTs (20) reported that their most recent long-range statewide
transportation plan included a financial plan demonstrating fiscal
constraint. According to federal planning regulations, a financial
plan demonstrates consistency between reasonably available and
projected sources of federal, state, local, and private revenues and
the costs of implementing proposed transportation system improvements.
Although state DOTs are not required to provide a financial plan in
the long-range statewide transportation plan, federal law requires
MPOs to provide this information in their long-range, metropolitan
transportation plan. Fewer state DOTs (13) reported that they include
in their long-range plan a list of specific projects to be programmed,
or cost estimates for those projects (12).
These survey results are consistent with the information provided by
USDOT officials and stakeholders that we interviewed, who told us that
many long-range statewide transportation plans are policy-based
documents that provide broad, general goals for the state, but do not
provide project-level information on how the state will achieve these
goals. Similarly, federal planning regulations permit long-range
statewide transportation plans to be comprised of policies,
strategies, or both, but not necessarily specific projects, over the
minimum 20-year forecast period. State DOT officials that we
interviewed provided reasons for not including project-specific
information in their long-range statewide transportation plan. For
example, PennDOT officials reported that they do not include such
information because they do not want to duplicate or override the
projects included in metropolitan transportation plans where such
elements are required. USDOT officials reported that the decision
whether to provide project-specific information in long-range
statewide transportation plans offers trade-offs to states. For
example, including projects in long-range plans can provide a greater
level of transparency into the state's project selection process;
however the public may see these plans as the final decision-making
process, giving state DOTs less flexibility to alter the plan in the
future.
State DOTs Conduct Several Research and Funding Allocation Activities
to Develop the STIP and Base Project Selection on a Range of Factors:
In developing a STIP--the list of projects prioritized by the state to
receive federal funding over a 4-year period--state DOTs reported
performing several activities to assess transportation needs and
determine funding allocation amounts. After completing these
activities, state DOTs reported they base their selection of projects
on a range of factors, including funding availability and priorities
established by the governor, as well as political and public support
for specific projects.
STIP Development Activities:
Research to assess needs. State DOTs commonly reported assessing their
transportation needs by using available transportation data and by
meeting with local officials in state regions--activities that they
also reported performing in developing their long-range statewide
transportation plans. Forty-three state DOTs reported reviewing the
condition of existing transportation assets to identify those with the
greatest need, and the same number of state DOTs also reported meeting
with local officials in state regions to determine needs.[Footnote 26]
For example, MDOT officials reported that Montana uses a "Performance
Programming Process" to assess areas of need based on pavement,
bridge, highway-safety and congestion data collected by the state. The
planners use the data to develop an optimal funding allocation program
based on needs, and district engineers, in consultation with local
elected officials across the state, nominate projects for inclusion in
the STIP.
Allocating funding. Through our survey and interviews with state DOT
officials, we found that state DOTs used a combination of approaches
to determine how to allocate available funding across competing
transportation needs and state regions. For example, 47 state DOTs
reported allocating funding across different project types, such as
bridge or road maintenance, or transit projects. Forty state DOTs
reported allocating transportation funding across geographic regions
based on need, and 35 reported using predetermined formulas to
allocate funding to different regions in the state. Although formula
allocations may help states decide how to distribute funding across
competing regions, we have previously reported that the use of
formulas to distribute federal highway funds to states results in
federal allocations that have only an indirect relationship to needs
and no relationship to performance or outcomes.[Footnote 27] In some
cases, state DOTs use formula allocations that consider needs to
distribute STIP funding. For example, PennDOT officials said that, as
a general rule, they attempt to allocate at least 80 percent of state
and federal transportation funding toward preservation and maintenance
activities, while applying much of that funding toward reducing the
number of structurally deficient bridges in the state. Within its
bridge program, PennDOT uses formulas to distribute federal and state
funding to planning regions based on the percentage of bridge deck
area in the region considered to be structurally deficient, with a
goal of allocating 85 percent of bridge money to improve structurally
deficient bridges.
STIP Project Selection Factors:
State DOTs reported that they select projects for inclusion in their
STIP based on a range of factors, but funding availability and
political and public support were of greater importance than the
results of economic analysis of a transportation project's benefits.
Economic analysis was one of the factors that state DOTs cited less
often as important in selecting STIP projects (see figure 4). In
addition, state DOTs must incorporate the approved TIPs of MPOs within
the state, without change, into the STIP.
Figure 4: Selected Factors State DOTs Reported Were of Great or Very
Great Importance in Decisions to Include Projects in the STIP:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Factor considered: Availability of federal funds;
Number of state DOTs: 52.
Factor considered: Availability of state funds;
Number of state DOTs: 51.
Factor considered: Availability of state or local funds to match
federal funds;
Number of state DOTs: 46.
Factor considered: Transportation funding priorities established by
the governor;
Number of state DOTs: 35.
Factor considered: Public support for specific projects;
Number of state DOTs: 32.
Factor considered: Political support for specific projects;
Number of state DOTs: 30.
Factor considered: Federal earmarks;
Number of state DOTs: 27.
Factor considered: Economic analysis of projects;
Number of state DOTs: 11.
Source: State DOT survey.
Note: Data collected for additional categories were not included in
this figure. See the e-supplement--GAO-11-78SP--for additional
information.
[End of figure]
Funding availability. Nearly all state DOTs reported that the
availability of federal and state funds was of great or very great
importance in determining which projects to include in the STIP, as
the amount of funding that is available determines the number and
scale of projects that the state can undertake. As noted in our prior
work, although transportation revenues have, until recently, increased
in nominal terms, the federal and state motor fuel tax rates have not
kept up with inflation; and the purchasing power in real terms of
revenues generated by federal and state motor fuel taxes has been
declining since 1990.[Footnote 28] Consequently, state and regional
transportation decision makers in recent years have devoted more
funding to highway investments that preserve, enhance, and maintain
existing infrastructure than to investments that add capacity. Most
state DOTs (46) also cited the availability of state or local funds to
match federal funds as being of great or very great importance in
selecting STIP projects. For example, West Virginia DOT (WVDOT)
officials told us that WVDOT is responsible for maintaining 92 percent
of the road miles in the state, and because many of the counties in
the state are economically distressed they are unable to provide a
local match for local road improvements.
Governor's priorities and political and public support. About two-
thirds (35) of state DOTs also identified the governor's funding
priorities as a factor of great or very great importance in selecting
transportation projects. For example, Pennsylvania's governor set a
goal to reconstruct or replace 1,145 bridges in the state by 2010, and
PennDOT's most recent STIP indicates that in fiscal year 2009, PennDOT
allocated almost half of its STIP funding toward bridge projects.
Other STIP project selection factors that more than half of state DOTs
cited as being of great or very great importance were public (32) and
political (30) support for specific transportation projects. For
example, in interviews with officials at Washington state DOT, we
learned that the state legislature increased state gas tax revenues by
5 cents per gallon in 2003 and by 9.5 cents per gallon over a 4-year
period in 2005, raising about $11 billion for highway, bridge, ferry,
and other improvements. To help raise support for the tax increases,
state legislators needed to identify for voters the specific projects
to be funded with the tax revenues, and the legislature, with
assistance from the Washington state DOT, wrote the projects into the
state legislation.
Federal earmarks. The majority of state DOTs (27) also reported that
federal earmarks, also known as congressional directives, were of
great or very great importance in selecting STIP projects.[Footnote
29] In 2007, the USDOT Inspector General reported that SAFETEA-LU
included a total of 7,808 earmarks for fiscal year 2006 for FHWA and
FTA programs, accounting for just more than $8 billion.[Footnote 30]
FHWA and FTA provide such funds through grants to state and local
agencies, which then must include the earmarked projects in the STIP
to be implemented.[Footnote 31] In prior work on the administration of
federal earmarks within USDOT and other federal agencies, FHWA and FTA
officials reported that earmarks can sometimes displace higher
priority projects with lower priority projects in order to comply with
these earmarks.[Footnote 32] In our review, FHWA officials in one
division office told us that some projects funded through federal
earmarks may circumvent the statewide planning process by funding
projects that are not state priorities. In addition, federal earmarks
may provide only partial or initial funding for a project, leaving the
state and local governments to obtain future funding to complete a
project and cover future maintenance costs.
Economic analysis. In our survey, we found that economic analysis was
one of the factors that state DOTs cited less often as important in
selecting STIP projects (see figure 4). Eleven state DOTs reported
that the results of economic analyses of STIP projects--such as
benefit-cost, cost-effectiveness, or economic-impact analysis--were of
great or very great importance in selecting projects.[Footnote 33]
According to FHWA guidance, economic analysis takes a long-term view
of infrastructure performance and costs and enables state DOTs to
target scarce resources to the best uses (those that maximize benefits
to the public) and to account for their decisions.[Footnote 34] In the
planning process, economic analysis can be applied with collected
performance data to make project selection more performance based by
screening project alternatives based on expected performance benefits--
such as reductions in travel time--with expected costs for
implementing an alternative. In prior work, we found that state DOT
decisions about transportation investments are based on many things
besides the results of economic analysis of a project's benefits and
costs, such as the availability of funding or public perception of a
project.[Footnote 35] Although federal planning regulations do not
specify analytical tools to be applied for evaluating project merits--
nor do they require that the most cost-beneficial projects be chosen--
such analyses, when combined with other selection factors, including
needs expressed by the community and local officials, can result in
better-informed transportation investment decision-making.
USDOT has taken steps in recent years to encourage states to conduct
economic analyses, including benefit-cost analysis, to plan for new
transportation investments. For example, the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 appropriated approximately $1.5 billion for
competitively awarded surface transportation projects intended to have
a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or a
region.[Footnote 36] USDOT distributed this funding through its
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant
program. In administering the TIGER program, USDOT generally required
state and other grant applicants to conduct benefit-cost analyses that
compared a project's expected benefits to its costs, by measuring
factors such as the project's impact on fuel savings, travel time,
greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, and public health. Although
we have not reviewed the economic analyses performed by states as part
of this work, according to USDOT, grant requests were not approved if
USDOT concluded that project costs would likely exceed public benefits.
States Use Several Methods to Consult with Nonmetropolitan Local
Officials, and the Majority of Surveyed RPOs Are Satisfied That State
DOTs Sufficiently Consider Their Needs:
State DOTs reported using several methods to consult with
nonmetropolitan local officials during the statewide planning process.
Many state DOTs reported consulting directly with local elected
officials, while others reported relying on RPOs to consult with
nonmetropolitan local officials. In some cases, states reported that
they both consult directly with local elected officials and use RPOs.
Direct consultation. The majority of state DOTs reported that they
consult directly with nonmetropolitan local officials. For example, 39
state DOTs reported that they hold annual planning meetings with
nonmetropolitan local officials in their state. For example, state DOT
and local planning officials told us that these meetings may occur
either in a series of formal state DOT presentations at various
locations throughout the state (often referred to as road shows) or
less formally through regular interactions between state DOT district
engineers and local elected officials on an as-needed basis. According
to local officials in three of the states we visited, the quality of
this direct consultation can vary. For example, an official for an
organization representing councils of government in one state said
that each state DOT transportation district has a separate
consultation process, which is effective in some districts but not in
others. In another state, local officials said that their state DOT's
road show, which the state uses as a way to consult with local
officials, was not an effective form of consultation because many of
the decisions on transportation projects had already been made by
state DOT headquarters officials.
Consultation through RPOs. Fewer states reported using RPOs to fulfill
consultation requirements or to perform specific planning consultation
activities at the local level. In some cases, states have formalized
their relationships with these organizations through written
contractual agreements, while in other cases, they have no formal
agreements in place. Almost half of all state DOTs (25) reported
having written contractual agreements with RPOs to consult with local
officials in nonmetropolitan areas (see figure 5). Fifteen state DOTs
reported that they gave their RPOs a role in the planning process by
requiring the RPOs to develop their own long-range plans or TIPs. In
addition to the 25 state DOTs that reported having written contractual
agreements with RPOs, 11 state DOTs reported that other organizations
conduct rural transportation planning activities in their state
without a contract. (For more information on RPO characteristics and
activities, see appendix II.)
Figure 5: State DOTs That Reported Having Written Contractual
Agreements with RPOs:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustrated U.S. map]
State DOTs reporting not having contracted RPOs:
Alaska:
Arkansas:
Delaware:
District of Columbia:
Florida:
Georgia:
Hawaii:
Idaho:
Illinois:
Kansas:
Louisiana:
Maryland:
Mississippi:
Montana:
Nebraska:
New Jersey:
New York:
North Dakota:
Ohio:
Oklahoma:
Puerto Rico:
Rhode Island:
South Dakota:
Texas:
West Virginia:
Wisconsin:
Wyoming:
State DOTs reporting having contracted RPOs:
Alabama:
Arizona:
California:
Colorado:
Connecticut:
Indiana:
Iowa:
Kentucky:
Maine:
Massachusetts:
Michigan:
Minnesota:
Missouri:
Nevada:
New Hampshire:
New Mexico:
North Carolina:
Oregon:
Pennsylvania:
South Carolina:
Tennessee:
Utah:
Vermont:
Virginia:
Washington:
Sources: State DOT survey and Map Resources (map).
[End of figure]
Stakeholders and officials we interviewed offered some potential
reasons for the greater prevalence of RPOs in some states and
described some of the benefits of RPOs. For example, one stakeholder
said that RPOs are more prevalent in nonmetropolitan regions with
growing populations that require a coordinated planning effort to
manage growth. A state DOT official in one state with a slowly growing
population added that the state DOT does not see much need for formal
consultation organizations because the state's slow population growth
creates relatively little demand for consultation on new
transportation projects. Stakeholders that we interviewed reported
that RPOs help state DOTs carry out their responsibility for
consulting with local nonmetropolitan officials by, for example, (1)
helping competing jurisdictions develop consensus on and prioritize
regional transportation projects to be included in the STIP, (2)
facilitating state DOT consultation with elected officials from
multiple local governments, and (3) helping state DOTs better
anticipate project challenges such as issues with environmental
reviews for implementing projects.
RPO Views on the Extent to Which Rural Transportation Needs Are
Considered:
In our separate survey of RPOs, 63 percent reported that they were
either satisfied or very satisfied that the state DOT's consultation
process gave their transportation needs sufficient consideration. In
general, RPOs reported more satisfaction than their counterparts if
they had helped prioritize rural projects for their area or had
received planning funds or a written contractual agreement from their
state DOT.
Through our survey, we also asked RPOs about their participation in
certain state DOT planning activities. The majority of respondents
with relevant experience reported being satisfied or very satisfied
with their ability to participate in several state DOT research and
outreach planning activities; however, the RPOs that responded
expressed lower levels of satisfaction with their participation in
other activities, including those that involve prioritizing or
allocating funds for rural areas (see figure 6).
Figure 6: Percentages of RPOs That Reported Satisfaction and
Dissatisfaction with Their Ability to Participate in Selected
Statewide Planning Activities:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Statewide planning activity: Conducting transportation studies in our
region;
Satisfied or very satisfied: 57%;
Dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 13%.
Statewide planning activity: Gathering public input in the statewide
planning process;
Satisfied or very satisfied: 55%;
Dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 14%.
Statewide planning activity: Developing portions of long-range
statewide transportation plan related to our rural area;
Satisfied or very satisfied: 54%;
Dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 19%.
Statewide planning activity: Selecting projects in our rural area to
be included on the STIP;
Satisfied or very satisfied: 53%;
Dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 22%.
Statewide planning activity: Determining the transportation funding
priorities for rural areas of the state;
Satisfied or very satisfied: 46%;
Dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 24%.
Statewide planning activity: Allocating federal transportation
planning funds to rural areas;
Satisfied or very satisfied: 41%;
Dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 20%.
Source: Regional planning and development organization survey.
Note: Data collected for additional categories were not included in
this figure. See the e-supplement--GAO-11-78SP--for the complete list
of frequencies for each survey question. Some survey respondents
indicated that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their
participation in these activities, and that information is not
included in this figure.
[End of figure]
RPO officials we interviewed in some states expressed varying degrees
of satisfaction with their ability to participate in statewide
planning activities. For example, RPO officials in one state that
reported having written contractual agreements with its RPOs, reported
that the state DOT was generally receptive to the projects that the
RPO included in their TIP and made efforts to ensure that RPO projects
were considered for funding. RPO officials in this state said that the
state DOT and the RPOs work together early in the planning process to
agree on the statewide funding priorities. RPOs then use this
information to develop projects that address the statewide priorities.
However, in another state, where the RPOs also had written contractual
agreements with the state DOT, an RPO official said that, although
RPOs are required to develop both long-and short-range transportation
plans for their regions, the state DOT does not necessarily use their
project recommendations to select STIP projects. Other RPO officials
said that they did not know how the state DOT ultimately selected its
STIP projects and that they were unable to influence decision-making
to ensure their RPO's needs were considered.
Funding, Public Involvement, and Administrative Requirements Are the
Primary Challenges in Statewide Planning:
State DOTs Report Facing Funding Challenges in Developing Long-Range
Plans and STIPs:
In our survey, we asked each of the 52 state DOTs, including
Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, to identify the top three challenges
that they encountered in developing both their long-range statewide
transportation plans and their STIPs.[Footnote 37] When we combined
the state DOTs' responses for both plans, two funding challenges
emerged as the state DOTs' top challenges: (1) insufficient funds from
federal or state and local sources to meet their transportation
project needs and (2) funding and cost uncertainty--including
uncertainty forecasting future revenues and costs for implementing
transportation projects. However, these funding challenges are the
result, at least in part, of revenue decisions made at the state and
local levels. For example, one strategy that Congress has used to meet
the goals of the Federal-Aid Highway Program has been to increase
federal investment.[Footnote 38] However, as we have previously
reported, states and localities are permitted to use increased federal
funds to substitute for or replace what they otherwise would have
spent from state resources. As a result, not all of the increased
federal investment has increased the total investment in highways.
[Footnote 39]
Transportation needs outweigh available funds. Seventeen state DOTs
cited insufficient funds to meet state-defined transportation project
needs as being among their most significant challenges in developing
the long-range statewide transportation plan and 22 state DOTs cited
insufficient funds to meet project needs as being among their most
significant STIP development challenges.[Footnote 40] In both cases,
the state DOTs were referring to funding available to implement
projects, not to conduct statewide planning activities. DOT officials
from several states said that their transportation needs outweighed
their existing revenue, in part because of reduced or stagnant
revenues from state gas taxes coupled with demand for maintaining
aging transportation infrastructure. Several state DOTs reported that
insufficient funding requires planners to make difficult trade-offs
between preserving existing assets and modernizing transportation
networks to address future concerns such as increased congestion or
livability and mobility. FTA officials reported that because of
insufficient funds for transit, there are few large transit expansion
projects in development across the country.[Footnote 41] Consequently,
most planning for transit occurs within the transit agencies as they
look for ways to reconfigure their existing routes to adapt to
population patterns and maximize service levels for existing routes.
Funding and cost uncertainty. Seventeen state DOTs cited funding and
cost uncertainty as a significant long-range planning challenge, and
15 state DOTs cited it as a significant STIP development challenge. In
survey responses and interviews, officials from several state DOTs
reported that uncertain funding levels from both federal and state
sources hindered their ability to address long-and short-range
planning needs. For example, officials from one state DOT reported
that funding uncertainty is a particular challenge as many
transportation projects span multiple years and thus require careful
long-range planning to prevent exhaustion of funding prior to their
completion. Officials from several state DOT's reported that a lack of
a federal surface transportation authorization also contributed to
funding uncertainty. Furthermore, USDOT officials reported that some
state legislatures place restrictions on how state gas tax funds may
be spent, which limits states' flexibility in allocating their limited
budgets from year to year. Several other state DOTs reported that they
experienced challenges developing accurate cost estimates for
projects, especially when developing the STIP. For example, officials
in one state reported that, until recent years, planners did not have
access to useful cost estimating tools to project future project
costs. Without such cost-estimating tools, officials reported that
project selection and funding decisions were made outside the planning
process and subject to political interests. Officials reported that
the state has recently made investments to upgrade its cost-estimating
capabilities to prioritize the most cost-effective and greatest need
pavement and bridge projects; thereby improving the role of planning
to inform project selection decisions.
State DOTs Face Challenges Involving the Public, Addressing Data
Limitations, and Other Long-Range Issues:
In addition to funding challenges, state DOTs identified several
significant long-range planning challenges. Twenty state DOT's
reported that involving the public in the long-range planning process
was a significant challenge. In addition, 18 state DOTs cited data
limitations--including insufficient data and challenges analyzing and
modeling data--as a significant long-range planning challenge. Fewer
state DOTs identified prioritizing competing needs, complying with
federal requirements, and other issues as significant long-range
planning challenges (see figure 7).
Figure 7: Number of State DOTs That Identified the Following among
Their Most Significant Challenges Encountered in Developing the Long-
Range Statewide Transportation Plan:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Long-range plan challenge: Involving the public;
Number of state DOTs: 20.
Long-range plan challenge: Data limitations;
Number of state DOTs: 18.
Long-range plan challenge: Prioritizing competing needs;
Number of state DOTs: 12.
Long-range plan challenge: Complying with federal requirements;
Number of state DOTs: 10.
Long-range plan challenge: Managing transportation system complexity;
Number of state DOTs: 8.
Long-range plan challenge: Staffing constraints;
Number of state DOTs: 8.
Long-range plan challenge: Linking planning with programming;
Number of state DOTs: 6.
Long-range plan challenge: Coordinating with planning partners;
Number of state DOTs: 6.
Source: State DOT survey.
Note: In addition to the challenges provided in this figure, state
DOTs commonly identified funding challenges in developing the long-
range statewide transportation plan, as noted previously in this
report. Specifically, 17 state DOTs identified both insufficient
funding and funding and cost uncertainty as significant challenges
faced in developing the long-range statewide transportation plan.
[End of figure]
Involving the public. Through our survey and interviews, state DOTs
identified several challenges encountered in involving the public in
long-range planning, as well as several activities commonly used by
states to improve public involvement. First, several state DOTs
reported that they experienced challenges in getting the public to
attend long-range planning outreach sessions, in part because of the
long-range plan's 20-year horizon and, in some cases, a lack of
project-specific information. For example, in developing its current
long-range statewide transportation plan, one state DOT reported that
it held about 20 public meetings and workshops across the state;
however, less than a dozen members of the public attended meetings in
some rural areas of the state. Another state DOT reported that the
methods it used to solicit public feedback--public notices or display
ads in newspapers--were ineffective because of reduced newspaper
readership and constraints on spending to purchase such ads.
State DOTs reported conducting a variety of activities to address the
challenge of involving the public. In particular, 46 state DOTs
reported maintaining a Web site to provide public information and
receive public feedback on the long-range statewide transportation
plan, and slightly fewer (42) reported presenting their long-range
statewide transportation plan in a statewide road show. States also
reported that they took steps to involve hard-to-reach populations and
special interests. For example, 39 state DOTs reported that they
reached out to special needs populations--including low-income,
disabled, and elderly residents--and 37 state DOTs reported holding
meetings with freight industry representatives on their long-range
plan. To identify transportation needs for nonmetropolitan areas of
the state when developing the long-range plan, 37 state DOTs reported
that they tasked DOT personnel or contractors to perform this
activity, and fewer (24) relied on RPOs to identify such needs.
Data limitations. State DOTs identified several types of data
limitations as a significant challenge in developing the long-range
statewide transportation plan. Specifically, 13 state DOTs identified
analyzing and modeling existing data as a significant challenge, and 5
state DOTs identified insufficient data as such a challenge. For
example, 3 state DOTs reported challenges gathering or making use of
truck freight data in developing the long-range statewide
transportation plan, such as in segregating freight trips from
passenger traffic in analyzing corridor studies. Other long-range
planning data challenges identified by state DOTs include the
costliness of collecting data, retaining adequate staff, a lack of
analytical tools to model and analyze data, and developing and using
performance measures in the long-range statewide transportation plan.
Other long-range planning challenges. Among the other long-range
planning challenges identified, 12 state DOTs reported that
prioritizing competing needs--such as the needs of urban and rural
areas--was a significant challenge. For example, in interviews with
state DOT officials and other stakeholders, we learned that rural
areas are likely to advocate for corridor projects or improvements to
support economic development in their region, while urban areas often
focus on reducing congestion or adding capacity. Eight state DOTs
reported facing staffing challenges, including 2 state DOTs that
reported they have insufficient staff to address the long-range
statewide transportation plan among their other planning activities.
State DOTs Face Compliance, Administrative, and Other Challenges in
Developing the STIP:
In addition to funding challenges, almost half of state DOTs (22)
cited complying with federal requirements, including demonstrating
fiscal constraint and others, as a significant STIP development
challenge. Fewer state DOTs (16) identified administrative challenges
with maintaining the STIP, including updating the STIP to reflect
amendments or other modifications, as a significant challenge. Other
frequently mentioned STIP challenges were prioritizing competing
needs--a commonly cited long-range planning challenge--and
coordinating with planning partners, such as MPOs or RPOs (see figure
8).
Figure 8: Number of State DOTs That Identified the Following among
Their Most Significant Challenges Encountered in Developing the STIP:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
STIP Challenge: Complying with federal requirements;
Number of state DOTs: 22.
STIP Challenge: Maintaining STIP (e.g., amendments);
Number of state DOTs: 16.
STIP Challenge: Prioritizing competing needs;
Number of state DOTs: 15.
STIP Challenge: Coordinating with planning partners;
Number of state DOTs: 11.
STIP Challenge: Involving the public;
Number of state DOTs: 7.
STIP Challenge: Delivering projects on-time and/or on-budget;
Number of state DOTs: 4.
STIP Challenge: Linking planning with programming;
Number of state DOTs: 4.
Source: State DOT survey.
Note: Complying with federal requirements includes demonstrating
fiscal constraint (identified by 13 state DOTs) and other federal
requirements (identified by 9 state DOTs). In addition to the
challenges provided in this figure, state DOTs also commonly
identified several funding challenges in developing the STIP, as noted
previously in this report. Specifically, 22 state DOTs identified
funding insufficiency, 15 state DOTs identified funding and cost
uncertainty, and 5 state DOTs identified funding inflexibility as
significant challenges faced in developing the STIP.
[End of figure]
Complying with federal requirements. A total of 22 state DOTs cited
challenges related to complying with federal requirements in
developing the STIP. In particular, 13 state DOTs cited challenges
demonstrating fiscal constraint--a federal requirement that states
demonstrate that all projects on the STIP can be implemented using
committed, available, or reasonably available revenue sources. Two
stakeholders that we interviewed reported that some FHWA division
offices interpret the fiscal constraint rule rigidly and require
states to provide very detailed cost and revenue estimates, while
others allow for greater flexibility in their review to account for
limitations in developing accurate estimates of future revenues and
project costs. Despite the challenge that demonstrating fiscal
constraint presents to state DOTs, FHWA officials reported that it
serves an important accountability and transparency function in that
it requires states to set reasonable expectations among MPOs and the
public about which projects can be implemented given available
revenues. In addition to challenges with demonstrating fiscal
constraint, 9 state DOTs cited complying with other planning
requirements--such as ensuring that a state's MPOs complete required
air-quality conformity analyses--as a significant challenge.
Maintaining the STIP. About a third of state DOTs (16) reported that
maintaining the STIP (e.g., amending the STIP as changes occur) was a
significant administrative challenge. Federal planning regulations
allow states to add or delete projects on the STIP or to revise
project cost estimates at any time. In general, major changes to STIP
project costs, initiation dates, or scope are known as amendments, and
minor changes are considered administrative modifications.[Footnote
42] STIP amendments require the state DOT to provide a public comment
period and demonstrate that the STIP remains fiscally constrained for
FHWA and FTA approval.[Footnote 43] According to data collected by
FHWA division offices, in fiscal year 2009 some states made a
substantial number of amendments to their STIPs for that year. For
example, FHWA's New York Division reported that it approved more than
2,000 amendments to the New York DOT's STIP in fiscal year 2009, and
FHWA's Pennsylvania Division office approved 500 amendments to
PennDOT's STIP for that same year. According to FHWA officials we
interviewed, states often have good reasons for making such
amendments--particularly in fiscal years 2009 and 2010, when states
needed to plan projects for significant amounts of federal funding
made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Furthermore, some states, such as New York and Pennsylvania, have more
assets and older infrastructure than other states, which could
necessitate more frequent maintenance and repairs and STIP amendments,
according to FHWA officials.
Other STIP challenges. Almost a third of state DOTs (15) reported that
prioritizing competing needs was a significant STIP development
challenge--a challenge also identified by 12 states in developing
their long-range statewide transportation plans, as previously
reported. Fewer states cited coordinating with planning partners (11)
as a significant challenge. For example, in our survey 1 state DOT
reported that it has 27 planning partners, including MPOs and RPOs
that develop their own TIPs and are responsible for programming some
federal-aid highway funds in their own regions. The state reported
that it is challenging to coordinate the development of 27 TIPs and
consolidate those projects into one STIP. Other less frequently cited
STIP development challenges by state DOTs include involving the public
(7), delivering transportation projects on time and on budget (4), and
linking planning and programming (4).
USDOT Has Limited Oversight Authority of Long-Range Statewide
Transportation Plans, and STIP Oversight Focuses on Process:
USDOT Has Limited Oversight Authority of Long-Range Statewide
Transportation Plans, and Some States' Plans Are Updated Infrequently:
USDOT has limited oversight authority over long-range statewide
transportation plans. Federal planning regulations require states to
continually evaluate, revise, and periodically update the long-range
statewide transportation plan; however, regulations do not prescribe a
schedule or time frame for those updates. In addition, although USDOT
is not required to review or approve long-range statewide
transportation plans, states must provide copies of any new or amended
long-range statewide transportation plans to USDOT for informational
purposes.[Footnote 44] This requirement differs from the requirement
for MPOs in developing the long-range metropolitan transportation
plan, which must be updated on a predetermined schedule every 4 or 5
years.[Footnote 45]
Through our survey, we found that state DOTs vary in how often they
update their long-range statewide transportation plan, and some states
reported infrequent updates. Twenty-one state DOTs reported issuing an
updated long-range statewide transportation plan within 5 years of
their previously issued plan. However, 18 state DOTs reported taking
between 6 and 10 years to update their plan, and 7 state DOTs reported
taking 11 years or more to do so (see figure 9).[Footnote 46] Five
other state DOTs reported that they had issued one plan and had thus
never updated that plan. Of those state DOTs that reported updating
their plan at least once, the average amount of time between updates
was about 7 years. However, the amount of time reported between
updates varied considerably, from 2 years to as many as 18 years.
Figure 9: Number of Years between Updates of the Long-Range Statewide
Transportation Plan as Reported by State DOTs:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Number of years between updates: 5 or less;
Number of state DOTs: 21.
Number of years between updates: 6-10;
Number of state DOTs: 18.
Number of years between updates: 11-15;
Number of state DOTs: 6.
Number of years between updates: 16 or more;
Number of state DOTs: 1.
Source: State DOT survey.
Note: This figure is based on the 46 state DOTs that reported having
updated their long-range statewide transportation plan at least one
time. Five state DOTs reported that they had only issued one long-
range statewide transportation plan and had never updated that plan.
One state DOT did not provide information as to whether they had ever
updated their current long-range statewide transportation plan. See
the e-supplement--GAO-11-78SP--for additional information.
[End of figure]
State DOT and USDOT officials offered several reasons for infrequently
updating the long-range statewide transportation plan: (1) two state
DOTs reported they have insufficient staff to address the long-range
statewide transportation plan among their other planning priorities;
(2) one state DOT reported that it had updated its plan, but the plan
was not adopted by the state's transportation commission and
legislature; and (3) USDOT officials said some states issue what they
referred to as policy-based plans that are not updated regularly
because they do not include projects and therefore do not change much
over time. USDOT officials suggested that if state DOTs were required
to include project-specific information in their plans, plans would
likely be updated more regularly.
State DOT and FHWA officials reported that periodic updates to the
long-range statewide transportation plan offer important benefits to
state DOTs and the public, including setting realistic public
expectations for what the state DOT can expect to accomplish. For
example, officials with one state DOT that we interviewed told us that
it recently completed an update of the state's plan issued in 2002.
The update was prompted by a new governor and a review of the existing
plan, which found that the plan included approximately $20 to $30
billion worth of projects that had not been funded or implemented
because of insufficient revenues. In updating the plan, the state DOT
focused its public outreach and consultations with local officials on
setting more realistic expectations for future investments. The
recently issued, updated plan includes a funding scenario based on
current, flat revenue expectations, and identifies four key corridors
in the state where improvements could be made, subject to additional
revenues. Similarly, FHWA officials that we interviewed told us that,
although a state's long-range plan is vital for setting and
communicating the state's future transportation goals and strategies,
the process of updating the long-range plan is equally important to
the state DOT as the final document itself. Officials noted that
states that take a committed approach to planning--such as by
continually monitoring system performance, conducting ongoing
research, and reaching out to the public and stakeholders--increase
the likelihood of developing a plan that stakeholders will accept.
While regularly updating the long-range statewide transportation plan
has inherent benefits, infrequently updating it presents several risks:
* Infrequent updates limit USDOT's ability to determine whether states
are using federal planning funds effectively to address long-range
planning needs. State DOTs receive substantial amounts of funding from
FHWA and FTA for statewide planning, including funds for developing
long-range statewide transportation plans. For example, in fiscal year
2009, FHWA provided $682 million in SPR funds to state DOTs to support
their planning activities, including developing long-range statewide
transportation plans and STIPS and annually collecting and reporting
pavement condition and other data to FHWA's HPMS program. States must
document and annually report on activities that they propose to be
accomplished with SPR funds, and FHWA must approve these activities.
[Footnote 47] In our survey, four states reported not completing an
update of their long-range statewide transportation plan between 2000
and 2009. In that 10-year period, those states received approximately
$640 million in state planning funds, an average of $16 million per
state over that period.[Footnote 48] Because those states did not
update their long-range statewide transportation plan over that
period, it is unclear how they applied SPR funding to address their
long-range planning needs. It is also unclear whether the investment
decisions made over that period were based on the states' current
transportation goals and strategies.
* Some plans may not reflect the current federal surface
transportation authorization. Federal surface transportation
authorization legislation creates new planning requirements and
funding opportunities that states should address in their long-range
statewide transportation plans. For example, through SAFETEA-LU, which
was enacted in August 2005, Congress revised several federal planning
provisions and established several new funding programs for state DOTs
to consider in their planning process.[Footnote 49] Among these were
three federal transportation programs designed to target funds to
infrastructure projects that have high costs, involve national or
regional impacts, and cannot easily or specifically be addressed
within existing federal surface transportation programs.[Footnote 50]
In responding to our survey, 10 state DOTs reported that they have not
updated their long-range statewide transportation plans since 2004,
prior to SAFETEA-LU's passage.[Footnote 51] Consequently, those
states' long-range statewide transportation plans likely do not
reflect amended statewide planning requirements or consider some of
the new transportation programs and funding opportunities established
by SAFETEA-LU.
* Some states' STIPs may not be consistent with state priorities in
outdated plans. According to federal planning requirements, each
project included in the STIP must be consistent with the long-range
statewide transportation plan. States with a long-range plan that is
not periodically updated may lack a plan that has been through the
public participation and consultation processes and addresses the
state's current transportation conditions or provides new strategies
to address changing conditions.
USDOT's Oversight of STIPs Focuses on Process:
USDOT's review and approval of state DOT STIPs is the primary means
through which FHWA and FTA oversee the statewide planning process. As
part of the STIP review process, state DOTs must submit to FHWA and
FTA for joint review, at least every 4 years, an updated STIP, and in
doing so, the state DOT must certify that its planning process was
carried out in accordance with federal statutes and planning
regulations, including the requirement for demonstrating fiscal
constraint (see figure 1). Although there is no single, established
process for conducting these joint reviews, FHWA division office
personnel generally lead the STIP review process with assistance from
the FTA regional office, on behalf of both agencies. They do so, in
part, because FHWA division offices focus on the activities of a
single state DOT, whereas FTA regional offices have multiple states in
their portfolio. The majority of state DOTs submit a new STIP for
FHWA's and FTA's approval either on an annual or biannual basis, and
many state DOTs amend their STIP over the course of a year, requiring
FHWA and FTA to review the amended document to ensure that it remains
fiscally constrained. When that review is complete, FHWA and FTA send
the state DOT a letter indicating that they have approved the STIP in
its entirety, approved the STIP subject to certain corrective actions,
or partially approved the STIP for a portion of the state.
Pursuant to federal law, USDOT's oversight of the STIP is focused on a
state DOT's compliance with planning process requirements. In
addition, USDOT's STIP oversight does not consider transportation
planning outcomes. Specifically, through the STIP review and approval
process, FHWA and FTA make a joint finding on the extent to which the
STIP is based on a statewide planning process that meets or
substantially meets federal planning requirements--for example, by
ascertaining whether the state DOT has demonstrated fiscal constraint
over the 4 years covered by the STIP. However, federal statutes or
planning regulations do not require states to establish or attain
specific performance thresholds or outcomes in the statewide planning
process, such as improving highway safety, reducing congestion, or
maintaining the state of repair of a state's transportation assets. We
have previously recommended to USDOT[Footnote 52], as well as to
Congress, that adopting performance measures and goals for programs
can aid in measuring and evaluating the success of the programs,
thereby potentially leading to better decisions about transportation
investments.[Footnote 53] As discussed in the next section of this
report, some states do not have the performance measures and targets
they would need to determine whether they have attained such
thresholds or outcomes. According to USDOT officials and other
stakeholders that we interviewed, FHWA and FTA's joint review of a
state DOT's STIP does not evaluate the effectiveness of the state's
planning process in achieving such transportation outcomes--instead,
it focuses solely on whether the state has a process in place to meet
federal planning requirements and whether the state-certified STIP
meets those requirements.
We have previously reported that, in addition to ensuring compliance
with regulations, oversight provides a means by which the federal
government can ensure that federal funds are being used to achieve
planned outcomes. If FHWA and FTA jointly determine and document that
the submitted or amended STIP does not meet federal planning
requirements, FHWA and FTA can withhold future apportioned surface
transportation program funds until substantial compliance is
demonstrated.[Footnote 54] However, USDOT's internal planning guidance
indicates that, in general, FHWA and FTA do not disapprove STIPs.
Instead, the planning guidance indicates that the STIP is reviewed to
determine if any portion of the document meets the federal
requirements and can be partially approved. In our review, we examined
FHWA and FTA planning findings for the most recent STIP submitted by
each of the 52 state DOTs, not including amendments. We found that
FHWA and FTA approved all 52 STIPs, including 35 in their entirety, 13
subject to corrective actions, and 4 partially.[Footnote 55] USDOT
officials reported that in many cases, FHWA and FTA collaborate
closely with the state DOT throughout the planning process and are
able to address any issues that could result in a corrective action
following the STIP review. As a result, FHWA and FTA officials are
often familiar with the content of a STIP before they review it and
the review can occur without findings.
Most States Reported Making Some Use of Performance Measurement for
Planning, but a Performance-Based Framework Offers Opportunities to
Improve Statewide Planning:
Most States Reported Using Some Performance Measures and Targets, but
Several Challenges Limit Greater Use of Performance Measurement in
Planning:
In our survey and interviews, state DOTs reported using performance
measurement--specifically performance measures and targets--in the
statewide transportation planning process. Overall, the majority of
state DOTs reported making use of performance data in developing their
long-range statewide transportation plan (32) and their STIP (36). The
most commonly used performance measures and quantifiable performance
targets were reported in the areas of safety and asset condition, with
lower levels of usage of project delivery and mobility measures (see
table 1). Not surprisingly, state DOTs also reported that safety and
asset condition measures were considered to be most useful to the
statewide planning process. Although many states reported using some
performance measures, stakeholders and USDOT officials told us that
only a select few states have made significant attempts to integrate
performance measurement into their statewide planning process to
inform investment decisions.
Table 1: Number of State DOTs Reporting Using Performance Measurement
to Inform Decisions in the Statewide Planning Process in the Last 12
Months:
Safety and asset condition measures:
Safety measure: Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 50;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 49;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 40.
Safety measure: Road surface or pavement conditions;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 49;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 47;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 42.
Safety measure: Bridge conditions;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 49;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 48;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 44.
Project measure: Project costs;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 43;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 34;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 29.
Project measure: Timeliness of project delivery;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 42;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 38;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 21.
Project measure: Progress made implementing the STIP;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 39;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 38;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 21.
Project measure: Progress made implementing long-range statewide
transportation plan;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 33;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 22;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 12.
Mobility measures: Vehicle congestion levels;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 42;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 35;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 25.
Mobility measures: Truck freight mobility;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 32;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 13;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 12.
Mobility measures: Intermodal connectivity of state transportation
network;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 25;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 12;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 9.
Mobility measures: Transit congestion levels;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 22;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 10;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 4.
Other measure: Surface transportation-related emissions or energy
consumption;
Used performance measures in the last 12 months: 24;
Had quantifiable targets for performance data: 20;
Considered to be of very great or great use to planning process: 9.
Source: State DOT survey.
[End of table]
* Safety measures. Almost all state DOTs (50) reported using safety
measures in the past 12 months, and 49 state DOTs reported having
quantifiable performance targets for these measures. Fewer state DOTs
(40) considered safety measures of great or very great use in the
planning process. The extensive use of safety measures is due, in
part, to the federal requirement that state DOTs develop a strategic
highway safety plan that establishes statewide goals and objectives to
reduce highway fatalities and serious injuries on all public
roads.[Footnote 56] Of those state DOTs reporting that safety measures
were of great or very great use, several cited crash data as being
particularly useful for identifying high-crash locations or
intersections and prioritizing improvements in those areas. Others
reported that safety measures were used to evaluate the effectiveness
of specific safety programs, such as seat belt use or motorcycle
safety, or to develop the strategic highway safety plan.
* Asset condition measures. The vast majority of state DOTs (49) also
reported using measures for the conditions of their roads, pavement,
and bridges, and most of these state DOTs also reported having
performance targets for these measures. The widespread availability
and usage of these measures is likely related to the requirement that
state DOTs collect and report data to FHWA on the condition of their
roads and bridges.[Footnote 57] Forty-four state DOTs considered
bridge condition measures to be of great or very great use and 42
state DOTs considered road condition measures to be of great or very
great use in their planning process. DOTs reported referring to these
measures to make funding allocation decisions, identify assets most in
need of improvement, and prioritize competing projects.
* Project measures. Forty-three state DOTs reported using project cost
performance measures, 42 state DOTs used project timeliness
performance measures, and 39 state DOTs used performance measures on
progress made in implementing the STIP. Fewer state DOTs reported
having performance targets for these measures, and fewer still
reported that these measures were of great or very great use in
statewide planning. While states are not required to use project
measures, state DOTs find that monitoring project costs and timeliness
can help mitigate cost overruns and project delays. For example,
officials with one state DOT said that tracking how well project costs
compare to project estimates enables:
them to schedule a high percentage of available funding based on the
state DOT's history of delivering projects on time and on budget.
* Mobility measures. Overall, fewer state DOTs reported using
performance measures or having performance targets for mobility
measures, including vehicle congestion, truck freight, intermodal
connectivity, and transit congestion (see table 1). Vehicle congestion
measures were the most widely used mobility measures, with 42 state
DOTs reporting using these measures and 35 state DOTs reporting having
quantitative performance targets for these measures. State DOTs
reporting that mobility measures were of great or very great use
identified several uses for the measures, including factoring
congestion data into their funding allocation models and using vehicle
congestion data as a preliminary screen for determining whether to
widen a road in the future.
Despite efforts to use performance measures in planning, state DOTs
identified several significant challenges that limit their ability to
make broader use of performance measures. The challenges that state
DOT's cited most frequently in our survey as being a great or very
great challenge were identifying indicators for qualitative measures
such as livability, collecting data to track multimodal performance,
and securing sufficient resources to develop and maintain a
performance management system. Only six state DOTs reported that
institutional resistance to using performance measures was a great or
very great challenge to using performance measures for transportation
planning (see figure 10).
Figure 10: Great or Very Great Challenges to Using Performance
Measures for Transportation Planning Reported by State DOTs:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Challenge: Identifying indicators for qualitative measures (e.g.,
livability);
Number of state DOTs: 41.
Challenge: Collecting data to track multimodal performance;
Number of state DOTs: 29.
Challenge: Securing resources to develop or maintain a performance
management system;
Number of state DOTs: 28.
Challenge: Identifying indicators to measure planning effectiveness;
Number of state DOTs: 25.
Challenge: Applying performance terms and methods uniformly;
Number of state DOTs: 21.
Challenge: Linking funding decisions to performance information;
Number of state DOTs: 19.
Challenge: Having expertise on staff to make use of performance data;
Number of state DOTs: 17.
Challenge: Coordinating data collection activities across the state;
Number of state DOTs: 15.
Challenge: Identifying system performance indicators;
Number of state DOTs: 11.
Challenge: Overcoming institutional resistance to using performance
measures;
Number of state DOTs: 6.
Source: State DOT survey.
[End of figure]
* Identifying indicators for qualitative measures. Forty-one state
DOTs reported that identifying indicators for qualitative measures
such as livability was a great or very great challenge. USDOT
officials, stakeholders, and state DOTs that we interviewed reported
that there is little consensus among states on how qualitative
variables--such as livability, mobility, or congestion--should be
defined or what indicators should be used to measure such concepts.
[Footnote 58] Congestion, for example, has several widely recognized
indicators--including number of cars, delay times, and person
throughput--yet no single standard exists for reliably collecting or
using these data to compare performance across locales. Several
stakeholders and USDOT officials noted that even for commonly
collected quantitative measures, such as road and pavement surface
conditions, there is a lack of consensus among state DOTs on whether
pavement roughness measures or other indicators, such as remaining
surface life, are most useful.
* Collecting data to track system performance across multiple modes.
Twenty-nine state DOTs reported that collecting data to track
multimodal performance--such as delay times for highway and transit
travel--was a great or very great challenge. Stakeholders reported
that some states do not have tools and performance measures that would
allow them to consider and compare investments in strategies for
managing traffic and transit operations alongside investments in more
conventional highway infrastructure improvements. Moreover, although
state DOTs generally collect performance data to manage state-owned
transportation assets, the percentage of roads that are owned and
maintained by the state DOT varies across states. Furthermore,
stakeholders and state DOT officials reported that states often have
insufficient data on truck or freight volumes across their
transportation networks that could support long-range systemwide
planning.
* Securing sufficient resources to develop and maintain a performance
management system. In our survey, 28 state DOTs reported that securing
sufficient resources for a performance management system was a great
or very great challenge. As noted previously, FHWA annually apportions
substantial amounts of SPR funds to states for statewide planning and
research activities, including collecting data on the performance and
condition of public roads for FHWA's HPMS program. In fiscal year
2009, for example, states received a total amount of more than $680
million to fund planning and research activities. Nonetheless, in our
interviews, planning officials noted that collecting and maintaining
such data is time-consuming and expensive. For example, states must
continually collect road and bridge condition data, which may be
housed in separate databases and in different data formats. Planning
officials also told us that developing the internal processes to
properly collect and use data to make decisions can take many years.
For example, officials at the Washington state DOT said that although
they began measuring transportation asset performance in the 1990s, it
took them a number of years to identify the most meaningful indicators
and refine the data collection and analysis procedures to enable
performance-based investment decision making. The officials reported
that over time, performance management processes were implemented
agency wide to address all of Washington state DOT's program and modal
responsibilities.
A Performance-Based Framework Offers Opportunities to Improve
Statewide Planning:
Through interviews with transportation planning stakeholders and
through our expert panel, we identified several elements of a
performance-based framework that offer opportunities to facilitate
states' use of performance measurement and improve the statewide
planning process. Those elements include (1) national transportation
goals, (2) collaboratively developed performance measures, (3)
appropriate performance targets, and (4) revised federal oversight of
statewide planning. Elements of this framework are also consistent
with performance measurement requirements that apply to federal
agencies, according to prior GAO work,[Footnote 59] and a recent FHWA
report on the experience of other countries in applying performance
management to transportation programs.[Footnote 60]
National transportation goals. Transportation planning stakeholders we
interviewed and participants in our expert panel commonly cited clear
national transportation goals as a critical ingredient in performance-
based planning. According to several stakeholders, national goals are
necessary to provide clear policy direction for federal transportation
investments. In previous work, we have noted that for many surface
transportation programs, goals are numerous and conflicting, and we
recommended that Congress consider refocusing surface transportation
programs so that they have well-defined goals with direct links to an
identified federal interest and role.[Footnote 61] FHWA's
international scan report also recommends, as a first step in
developing a performance measurement program, that a limited number of
high-level national transportation policy goals be articulated and
linked to a clear set of measures and targets, set at the state and
local levels. National goals could provide states with an articulated
federal interest and help states establish specific transportation
outcomes in the statewide planning process, such as improving highway
safety or maintaining the state of repair of a state's transportation
assets. FHWA planning officials we interviewed said that national
goals and associated performance measures would need to be
incorporated into statewide and MPO long-range transportation plans to
align state and local long-range priorities with national objectives.
Such alignment would then be reflected in the STIPs and TIPs, which
must be consistent with the long-range statewide transportation plans,
making it easier for FHWA and FTA reviewers to ensure that federal
surface transportation funds were being allocated to address national
transportation goals.
Collaboratively developed performance measures. Stakeholders and
panelists also commonly said that specific performance measures,
linked to national goals, should be developed in close collaboration
with the state and local stakeholders responsible for implementing
performance-based planning. We previously reported that seeking the
involvement of stakeholders and limiting the number of performance
measures to a vital few are important practices in developing and
implementing successful performance management systems within federal
agencies.[Footnote 62] Stakeholders told us that states and MPOs
should be closely involved in developing appropriate performance
measures because of the wide range of transportation contexts across
states. Without a collaborative process to identify a vital set of
performance measures that states and local planners can use, the
federal government and states will lack assurance that the resources
and effort directed to monitor performance will provide useful
information to the federal government on the overall condition of the
nation's transportation system.
While our previous work indicates that obtaining agreement among
competing stakeholders in developing performance management systems is
not easy, officials in one state DOT that we interviewed cited USDOT's
efforts to collaborate with states on the development of appropriate
performance measures. Specifically, USDOT's National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) partnered with the Governors Highway
Safety Association (GHSA)--which represents states' highway safety
offices--to jointly develop traffic safety performance measures for
states to use in their strategic highway safety plans. NHTSA and GHSA
brought state and local stakeholders together to develop and agree on
a minimum set of 14 performance measures for states to use in
developing and implementing behavioral highway safety plans and
programs.[Footnote 63] Participants in our expert panel suggested that
FHWA and FTA could bring a national perspective and technical
expertise to help states develop appropriate measures, particularly
for emerging measures such as livability--a challenge that, as noted,
state DOTs identified as limiting greater use of performance
measurement in planning.
Appropriate performance targets. Stakeholders we interviewed and our
expert panelists expressed various opinions on the value and
implementation of performance targets in statewide planning. The
Office of Management and Budget's guidance to federal agencies on
implementing GPRA requires federal agencies to set performance goals
that include performance targets and time frames, as part of the
annual performance plans that federal agencies develop to show
progress in achieving goals.[Footnote 64] Our prior work has shown
that performance targets help promote accountability and allow
organizations to track their progress toward goals and give managers
important information on which to base their organizational and
management decisions. However, several panelists said that if
performance targets were set at the federal level and if federal
funding allocations were contingent on achieving those targets, states
could be penalized for not achieving outcomes that could be beyond
their direct control. Other panelists indicated that targets could be
useful if linked to performance incentives rather than penalties, and
established at the state or local level in consultation with the
federal government. According to FHWA's international scan report,
among the countries examined it was common for different levels of
government to set performance targets jointly and collaborate on ways
to achieve targets, rather than for one level of government to set a
target and then penalize another for missing it.
Revised federal oversight of statewide planning. As previously noted
in this report, FHWA and FTA's joint oversight of statewide planning
focuses on state DOTs' compliance with planning process requirements
and does not consider transportation planning outcomes. Several
stakeholders and panelists told us that this process-oriented
oversight is of limited value to state DOTs in improving the
effectiveness of statewide planning. USDOT officials reported that a
performance-based planning framework would require legislative changes
to transition USDOT's statewide planning oversight role to focus on
transportation outcomes, such as whether states are making progress in
improving highway safety or maintaining the nation's transportation
assets in a state of good repair. USDOT's recent international scan
report found that linking national goals to state or regional
performance measures appeared to create a strong focus on outcomes
instead of process among the nations reviewed. Additionally, panelists
reported that regular reporting by state DOTs to USDOT on progress
made in achieving outcomes could improve communication between the
states and the federal government, and enable USDOT to provide
technical assistance as states' need for it becomes apparent.
Although implementing a performance-based framework will not be easy,
our state DOT survey results suggest that many state DOTs could be
receptive to increasing their use of performance measurement. In prior
work, we have noted that the ultimate benefit of collecting
performance information--improved decision making and results--is only
fully realized when this information is used to support management
planning and decision-making functions.[Footnote 65] Our work
evaluating the extent to which federal agencies' use performance
information to make decisions demonstrates that such organizational
change does not occur quickly.[Footnote 66] However, as previously
noted, only six state DOTs in our survey reported that institutional
resistance to using performance measures was a great or very great
challenge to using performance measures for transportation planning.
Given the progress some state DOTs have already made in using
performance-measurement, other state DOTs may be well-positioned to
move toward a performance-based planning framework.
Conclusions:
Statewide transportation planning is an important process for deciding
how to spend substantial amounts of federal surface transportation
funds--almost $46 billion in fiscal year 2009. However, the current,
statewide transportation planning framework does not provide the
federal government with sufficient information to ensure that states'
planning activities are contributing to improved transportation
outcomes--such as improving the state of repair of transportation
assets--and that states are fully considering the long-range needs of
the nation's transportation infrastructure. For example, because
federal oversight of statewide planning focuses on process, rather
than specific transportation outcomes, it is unclear whether states'
investment decisions are improving the condition and performance of
the nation's transportation system.
A performance-based planning framework offers opportunities to focus
statewide planning on achieving transportation outcomes.
Encouragingly, our state DOT survey results suggests that states have
already taken some important steps in this direction by setting broad
goals in their long-range statewide transportation plans and using
performance measures and targets to monitor the safety and condition
of many roads and bridges. However, some long-range statewide
transportation plans are infrequently updated, and individual state
efforts toward performance-based planning are not part of a
coordinated federal approach. As a result, the federal government has
limited ability to measure the results of its investment in statewide
planning. Nonetheless, our results suggest that many states could be
ready to transition to a performance-based planning framework, with
the appropriate assistance and collaboration of the federal
government. USDOT, through NHTSA, has experience working with states
to make states' strategic highway safety plans more performance based.
This experience could be useful to FHWA, FTA, and states as they
endeavor to address both national and state transportation concerns in
a performance-based planning framework. As Congress moves forward with
reauthorizing federal surface transportation programs, it has an
opportunity to take the legislative action needed to shift to a
performance-based approach for statewide planning and oversight,
through which the federal government, states, and local planners can
collaboratively address their transportation concerns.
Matters for Congressional Consideration:
Congress should consider transitioning statewide transportation
planning and oversight toward a more performance-based approach.
Actions to accomplish this transition could include:
* identifying specific transportation outcomes for states to address
in statewide transportation planning and charging USDOT with assessing
states' progress in achieving these outcomes through its STIP review
and approval process,
* requiring states to update their long-range statewide transportation
plans on a prescribed schedule to ensure the effective use of federal
planning funds and to address statewide planning outcomes, and:
* requiring USDOT and states to collaboratively develop appropriate
performance measures to track progress in achieving planned
transportation outcomes.
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft of this report to USDOT for review and comment on
November 5, 2010. USDOT officials provided technical comments which we
incorporated into the report, as appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional
committees and the Secretary of Transportation. In addition, this
report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-2834 or herrp@gao.gov. Contact points for our
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on
the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions
to this report are listed in appendix III.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Phillip R. Herr:
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
To identify the planning activities conducted by state departments of
transportation (state DOT) we reviewed federal statutes and
regulations governing the statewide planning process[Footnote 67] and
conducted a Web-based survey of 52 state DOTs, including those in
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. To identify survey
participants, we used contacts provided by the American Association of
State Highway Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Standing Committee on
Planning, current as of March 4, 2010. In designing the survey
questions, we interviewed a range of transportation policy
stakeholders, including state DOT planning officials and officials
with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA), and we consulted GAO staff with appropriate
subject-matter expertise. In addition, we conducted three pretests of
the survey of state DOTs and obtained feedback on the survey from two
external planning experts and from FHWA and FTA officials to ensure
that the questions were clear and did not place an undue burden on
officials, that the terminology was used correctly, and that the
questionnaire was comprehensive and unbiased. We made changes to the
content and format of the questionnaire based on their feedback. We
conducted the survey from April 20, 2010, to June 18, 2010, and
received responses from all 52 state DOTs, for a 100 percent response
rate. The complete results of the state DOT survey can be found at GAO-
11-78SP.
Because we administered the state DOT survey to the complete universe
of potential respondents, there are no sampling errors. However, the
practical difficulties of conducting any survey may introduce errors,
commonly referred to as nonsampling errors. For example, difficulties
in how a particular question is interpreted, in the sources of
information that are available to respondents, or in how the data are
entered into a database or were analyzed can introduce unwanted
variability into the survey results. We encountered a nonsampling
survey error in analyzing the state DOT survey responses.
Specifically, in some instances, respondents provided conflicting,
contradictory, or unnecessary information in portions of the survey.
We addressed these errors by contacting the state DOT officials
involved and clarifying their responses.
To obtain more in-depth information on state DOT statewide planning
activities, we reviewed planning documents from and interviewed
officials in six states: Louisiana, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Washington state, and West Virginia. In each state we interviewed
officials from state DOTs, FHWA division offices, FTA regional
offices, rural planning organizations (RPO),[Footnote 68] metropolitan
planning organizations (MPO), and, when present, tribal planning
organizations. To ensure that we identified a range of states for our
case studies, we considered:
* recommendations from transportation planning stakeholders;
* the percentage of road miles owned by the state;
* the presence of MPOs in the state and the percentage of the
population covered by MPOs;
* the presence of federally recognized tribes; and:
* the representation of FTA regions.
These criteria allowed us, in our view, to obtain information from a
diverse mix of state DOTs and other state planning organizations, but
the findings from our case studies cannot be generalized to all states
because the states selected were part of a nonprobability sample. We
used information obtained during the case studies throughout this
report.
To gather information on the extent to which RPOs are satisfied that
rural needs are considered in statewide planning, we conducted a
second Web-based survey of regional planning and development
organizations from all 50 states. We sent surveys to the 564
organizations in a database collected by the National Association of
Development Organizations that included a range of different types of
organizations that conduct regional planning activities, including
RPOs, councils of government (COG), regional planning commissions,
economic development agencies, county and city planning offices, and
others similar organizations. Because the database did not contain
organizations in Delaware, Hawaii, and Rhode Island, we identified a
total of five organizations from those states that conduct regional
planning activities and sent surveys to those organizations. Because
the National Association of Development Organizations database
includes organizations that conduct a variety of regional planning
activities, including transportation planning, we asked each surveyed
organization to identify the specific planning activities that it
performs. In this report, we provided information only from those
organizations that reported that they coordinate or conduct surface
transportation or transit planning in the nonmetropolitan areas of
their region. For the purposes of this report, organizations that
indicated that they perform this activity are considered RPOs. To
ensure the reliability of the database, we spoke with National
Association of Development Organizations officials about the
characteristics of the database and determined that it was
sufficiently reliable for our needs. In developing the survey
questions, we interviewed transportation planning stakeholders and
pretested the survey with a total of five RPOs in four states to
determine that the questions were clear and did not place an undue
burden on officials, that the terminology was used correctly, and that
the questionnaire was comprehensive and unbiased. We made changes to
the content and format of the questionnaire based on their feedback.
We conducted the survey from May 17, 2010, to June 25, 2010, and
received completed surveys from 72 percent of the organizations
surveyed. The complete results of this survey can be found at GAO-11-
78SP.
To gather information on the challenges that state DOTs face in the
statewide transportation planning process, we relied primarily on data
collected in the state DOT survey, in which we asked state DOT
respondents to identify through open-ended responses the three most
significant challenges encountered in developing both the long-range
statewide transportation plan and the state transportation improvement
program (STIP). We then performed a content analysis on the open-ended
question responses through the following process. We identified a
total of 13 categories of challenges identified by state DOTs in their
responses, including funding, stakeholder involvement, and staffing,
among others. We developed a codebook that defined each category, and
two GAO analysts independently assigned codes to each response.
Afterwards, the analysts met to resolve any differences in their
coding until they reached consensus. We then removed duplicate
responses--instances in which a state DOT reported the same challenge
for the same plan more than once--to ensure that only unique
challenges reported by state DOTs were reported in our analysis.
Finally, we analyzed the coded responses to determine how many state
DOTs encountered each challenge in developing both the long-range
statewide transportation plan and the STIP.
To obtain information on FHWA's and FTA's approach to overseeing
statewide transportation planning, we interviewed FHWA and FTA
officials in headquarters and in the six states where we interviewed
state DOT officials (Louisiana, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Washington State, and West Virginia). Specifically, we interviewed
officials in the six FHWA division offices in the six states and in
the four FTA regional offices with responsibility for those states
(FTA regions 3, 6, 8, and 10). We also reviewed FHWA and FTA planning
guidance and the planning findings from FHWA and FTA's joint review of
each state DOT's most recent STIP, to determine what joint action FHWA
and FTA took following their review.
To identify the extent to which state DOTs are using performance
measurement for planning and opportunities to make statewide planning
more performance based, we analyzed data collected through our state
DOT survey and interviews with state DOT officials. We also contracted
with the National Academy of Sciences to convene a balanced, diverse
panel of 14 experts to discuss performance measurement in statewide
transportation planning. We worked closely with the National Academy's
Transportation Research Board to identify and select panelists with
experience in the implementation of performance measurement in, and
knowledge of, the statewide transportation planning processes. The
panelists convened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 14, 2010, and
their discussion was divided into three moderated subsessions. The
subsessions addressed the appropriate roles of the federal government
and the states in making statewide planning more performance based,
how performance measures could be used to better link statewide
planning to programming decisions, and the advantages and
disadvantages of linking federal funding to achieving transportation
performance goals. The moderator facilitated a discussion among the
panelists to gather their perspectives on each topic. In keeping with
the National Academy's policy, the panelists were invited to provide
their individual views, and the panel was not designed to reach a
consensus on any of the issues that we asked the panelists to discuss.
Results of the discussions were used to inform key elements of a
framework to make statewide transportation planning more performance
based. We did not verify the panelists' statements. The views
expressed by the panelists do not necessarily represent the views of
GAO or the National Academy. Participants in the expert panel are
listed in table 2.
Table 2: Panelists on the GAO and National Academy Expert Panel:
Name: Lance Neumann (Moderator);
Affiliation: President, Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Name: Mark Aesch;
Affiliation: Chief Executive Officer, Genesee Regional Transportation
Authority (Rochester, NY).
Name: Daniela Bremmer;
Affiliation: Director of Strategic Assessment, Washington State
Department of Transportation.
Name: Leanna Depue;
Affiliation: Director, Highway Safety Division, Missouri Department of
Transportation.
Name: Patricia Hendren;
Affiliation: Director, Office of Performance, Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority.
Name: Charles Howard;
Affiliation: Director, Transportation Planning, Puget Sound Regional
Council.
Name: Tim Lomax;
Affiliation: Research Engineer, Regents Fellow, Texas Transportation
Institute, Texas A&M.
Name: Steve Pickrell;
Affiliation: Senior Vice President, Policy and Planning Cambridge
Systematics, Inc.
Name: Amanda Pietz;
Affiliation: Interim Planning and Implementation Manager,
Transportation Development Division, Oregon Department of
Transportation.
Name: Peggy Reichert;
Affiliation: Director, Statewide Planning and Analysis, Office of
Investment Management, Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Name: Kyle Schneweis[A];
Affiliation: Chief of Governmental Affairs, Kansas Department of
Transportation.
Name: George Schoener;
Affiliation: Executive Director, I-95 Corridor Coalition.
Name: Jack Stickel;
Affiliation: Transportation Data Services Manager, Alaska Department
of Transportation and Public Facilities.
Name: Mary Lynn Tischer;
Affiliation: Director, Office of Transportation Policy Studies, FHWA.
Name: David Wasserman;
Affiliation: Transportation Engineer, Strategic Planning Office, North
Carolina Department of Transportation.
Source: GAO.
[A] Employed by High Street Consulting on day of panel.
[End of table]
The expert discussion cited in this report should be interpreted in
the context of two key limitations and qualifications. First, although
we were able to secure the participation of a balanced, highly
qualified group of experts, other experts in this field could not be
included because we needed to limit the size of the panel. Although
many points of view were represented, the panel was not representative
of all potential views. Second, even though GAO, in cooperation with
the National Academy, conducted preliminary research and heard from
national experts in their fields, a day's conversation cannot
represent the current practice in this vast area. More thought,
discussion, and research must be done to develop greater agreement on
what we really know, what needs to be done, and how to do it. These
two key limitations and qualifications provide contextual boundaries.
Nevertheless, the panel provided a rich dialogue on making statewide
transportation planning more performance based, and the panelists
provided insightful comments in responding to the questions they were
asked.
To gather additional information related to all of our research
objectives, we interviewed a range of transportation planning
stakeholders representing state, local, and private-sector groups,
including AASHTO, the Association of Metropolitan Planning
Organizations, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Cambridge Systematics
Inc., the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the National Association of
Counties, the National Association of Development Organizations, the
National Association of Regional Councils, and National Academy's
Transportation Research Board.
We conducted this performance audit from October 2009 through December
2010 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Information on the Participation of Rural Planning
Organizations in Statewide Transportation Planning:
RPOs that we surveyed reported information on the following topics
discussed in this appendix:[Footnote 69] (1) RPO service areas, (2)
planning funds received by RPOs, (3) planning activities performed by
RPOs, (4) needs of nonmetropolitan areas served by RPOs, (5)
activities performed by state DOTs to consult with RPOs, and (6) RPOs'
satisfaction with their state DOT's consultation activities. The
complete results of this survey are available in GAO-11-78SP.
RPO Service Areas:
In general, RPOs are voluntary organizations of local elected
officials and representatives of local transportation systems that
serve nonmetropolitan areas not represented by a metropolitan planning
organization (MPO). MPOs represent urbanized areas with more than
50,000 people. However, because RPOs may serve multiple
nonmetropolitan municipalities, the population of the combined RPO
service areas may be greater than 50,000. In our survey, we found that
the size of the population serviced by RPOs varied greatly, with 57
percent reporting a population smaller than 150,000 and 43 percent
reporting a population in their service area greater than 150,000.
RPOs reported, on average, that they serve 5 counties and 36
municipalities, such as cities, towns, or villages. RPOs reported that
the number of full-time staff performing rural transportation planning
averaged 2 and ranged from 0 to 18.
Planning Funds Received by RPOs:
RPOs may receive state or federal funding to conduct nonmetropolitan
planning (see table 3). Of RPOs responding to our survey, 80 percent
reported receiving funding in fiscal year 2009 from their state DOT.
In addition, 41 percent reported that their state DOT provided them
with state planning and research (SPR) funds from FHWA and 14 percent
reported that their state DOT provided them with State Planning and
Research Program (SPRP) funds from FTA.
Table 3: Transportation Planning Funds Received by RPOs by Source and
Amount:
Source[A]: State DOT funds;
Percent Reporting Receiving Funds[B]: 80%;
Average Reported Amount Received: $96,082;
Range of Reported Amounts Received: $3,000-662,000.
Source[A]: FHWA, SPR funds;
Percent Reporting Receiving Funds[B]: 41;
Average Reported Amount Received: $125,040;
Range of Reported Amounts Received: $6,668-3,500,000.
Source[A]: FTA, SPRP funds;
Percent Reporting Receiving Funds[B]: 14;
Average Reported Amount Received: $37,919;
Range of Reported Amounts Received: $4,000-96,745.
Source: Regional Planning and Development Organization survey.
[A] FHWA SPR funds are authorized under 23 U.S.C. 505, and FTA SPRP
funds are authorized under 49 U.S.C. 5305.
[B] Percent does not add up to 100 as RPOs may receive funding from
more than one source.
[End of table]
Planning Activities Performed by RPOs:
We asked RPOs about the types of planning activities that they
conduct. Of the 15 activities RPOs were asked about, 12 were performed
by more than 50 percent of RPOs (see figure 11). More than 80 percent
of RPOs reported gathering or coordinating input from public and local
officials; conducting community planning activities, such as improving
accessibility for seniors and disabled persons; and providing
technical assistance to local governments, such as Geographic
Information System mapping or transportation modeling. Most RPOs
reported conducting other types of planning, such as bike and
pedestrian, land-use, and transit service planning, among others.
About a third to a half of RPOs reported planning for different modes,
freight, or air quality and emissions and conducting other planning
activities, such as tribal transportation planning, demographic
forecasting, and scenic byway planning.
Figure 11: Survey Responses for Transportation Planning Activities
Conducted by RPOs:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Activity: Gather public input to identify local rural transportation
needs;
Percentage of respondents: 92%.
Activity: Coordinate input from local officials;
Percentage of respondents: 91%.
Activity: Community transportation planning;
Percentage of respondents: 85%.
Activity: Provide technical assistance to local governments;
Percentage of respondents: 84%.
Activity: Bicycle and pedestrian planning;
Percentage of respondents: 79%.
Activity: Develop long-range transportation plan;
Percentage of respondents: 79%.
Activity: Develop a prioritized list of needs or transportation
improvement program (TIP) for rural parts of the region;
Percentage of respondents: 76%.
Activity: Collect transportation data for rural planning;
Percentage of respondents: 72%.
Activity: Land use planning;
Percentage of respondents: 70%.
Activity: Transit service planning;
Percentage of respondents: 68%.
Activity: Corridor management and development studies;
Percentage of respondents: 62%.
Activity: Intermodal facility planning;
Percentage of respondents: 53%.
Activity: Freight planning;
Percentage of respondents: 42%.
Activity: Other;
Percentage of respondents: 30%.
Activity: Air quality and emissions;
Percentage of respondents: 29%.
Source: Regional planning and development organization survey.
[End of figure]
Needs of Nonmetropolitan Areas Served by RPOs:
According to RPOs, maintaining or improving existing roads and bridges
and safety are their highest-priority transportation needs.
Specifically, 60 to 90 percent of RPOs reported that maintaining or
improving existing roads, maintaining or improving existing bridges,
and improving the safety of existing assets were of higher priority
(see figure 12). Twenty-six to 29 percent reported that higher-
priority needs for their region include improving public transit, such
as by reducing congestion or improving accessibility; other needs,
such as bike and pedestrian trails, and economic development; and
improving truck freight mobility. Less than 20 percent of RPOs
reported that improving rail freight mobility, increasing road or
highway capacity to address congestion, or improving air quality, such
as by reducing surface transportation emissions, were higher-priority
needs.
Figure 12: Survey Responses for RPOs' Opinion of the Higher-Priority
Needs for the Nonmetropolitan Areas of Their Region:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Priority: Maintaining or improving condition of existing roads;
Percentage of respondents: 91%.
Priority: Maintaining or improving condition of existing bridges;
Percentage of respondents: 81%.
Priority: Improving safety of existing roads or highways;
Percentage of respondents: 66%.
Priority: Improving public transit;
Percentage of respondents: 29%.
Priority: Other (e.g., bicycle and pedestrian issues);
Percentage of respondents: 29%.
Priority: Improving truck freight mobility;
Percentage of respondents: 26%.
Priority: Improving rail freight mobility;
Percentage of respondents: 18%.
Priority: Increasing road or highway capacity to address congestion;
Percentage of respondents: 17%.
Priority: Improving air quality;
Percentage of respondents: 15%.
Source: Regional planning and development organization survey.
[End of figure]
Activities Performed by State DOTs to Consult with RPOs:
State DOTs are required by federal guidelines to have a documented
process in place to consult with nonmetropolitan areas of the state on
transportation planning issues. We asked RPOs if, over the past year,
their state DOT performed selected activities to consult with them in
the statewide planning process. RPOs reported that their state DOT
performed a wide range of different activities to consult with them.
For example, 81 percent of RPOs reported that their state DOT provided
funding to their region to conduct surface transportation planning
activities (see figure 13). Thirty-five percent of RPOs reported that
the state DOT asked local officials to serve on policy-making or
advisory boards, or to participate in other activities, such as state
DOT meetings to discuss specific regional projects.
Figure 13: Survey Responses for State DOT Activities Performed to
Consult with RPOs in the Statewide Planning Process:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Consultation activity: State DOT provided funding to our region to
conduct surface transportation or transit planning activities;
Percentage of respondents: 81%.
Consultation activity: State DOT asked our organization for input on
identifying the states priority transportation needs or projects;
Percentage of respondents: 81%.
Consultation activity: State DOT officials regularly attended our
regional or rural planning organization board or committee meetings;
Percentage of respondents: 78%.
Consultation activity: State DOT provided technical assistance or
training to improve transportation planning activities in our
nonmetropolitan area;
Percentage of respondents: 73%.
Consultation activity: State DOT asked our region to prioritize
projects or develop TIPs and used them to inform the STIP;
Percentage of respondents: 71%.
Consultation activity: State DOT officials conducted annual meetings
in our region;
Percentage of respondents: 70%.
Consultation activity: State DOT held meetings with local officials in
our area to inform development of states long-range plan;
Percentage of respondents: 68%.
Consultation activity: State DOT held meetings with local officials in
our area to inform development of the STIP;
Percentage of respondents: 64%.
Consultation activity: State DOT asked our region to develop its own
long-range transportation plans and used them to inform the states
long-range plan;
Percentage of respondents: 63%.
Consultation activity: State DOT held public meetings in our region to
gather feedback on the states long-range transportation plan;
Percentage of respondents: 57%.
Consultation activity: State DOT held public meetings in our region to
gather feedback on the states STIP;
Percentage of respondents: 52%.
Consultation activity: State DOT officials conducted statewide
"roadshow" or consultation tour;
Percentage of respondents: 50%.
Consultation activity: State DOT asked nonmetropolitan local officials
in our region to serve on state policy-making and advisory bodies;
Percentage of respondents: 35%.
Consultation activity: Other (e.g., State DOT held meetings to
discuss specific regional projects;
Percentage of respondents: 22%.
Source: Regional planning and development organization survey.
[End of figure]
RPOs' Satisfaction with Their State DOT's Consultation Activities:
Overall, 63 percent of RPOs reported being satisfied or very satisfied
that their state DOT sufficiently considers their region's needs (see
page 25 of this report). However, fewer RPOs reported being satisfied
or very satisfied with their ability to participate in specific state
DOT consultation activities (see figure 14). More than 50 percent of
RPOs reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their ability to
participate in state DOT activities that gather public input in the
statewide planning process, conduct transportation studies, develop
portions of statewide long-range transportation plans, or select rural
projects in their area to be included in the STIP. Between 30 to 46
percent of RPOs reported being satisfied or very satisfied with state
DOT activities that determine the transportation funding priorities
for rural areas; allocate federal planning funds to rural areas; set
performance goals, measures, or targets for their area; and develop
transportation models to inform decisions.
Overall, 16 percent of RPOs reported being dissatisfied or very
dissatisfied with their state DOT sufficiently considers their
region's needs. Dissatisfaction with specific state DOT planning
activities ranged from 13 to 24 percent (see figure 14). RPOs most
frequently reported dissatisfaction with state DOT activities related
to determining the transportation priorities for rural areas of the
state. Specific reasons RPOs cited for dissatisfaction vary, but
include feeling that their needs are not prioritized, that there is a
lack of support for rural planning, and that information gathered
through consultation activities is not used to inform the statewide
planning process.
Figure 14: Surveyed RPOs' Satisfaction with Their Ability to
Participate in State DOT Activities:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Statewide planning activity: Conducting transportation studies in our
region;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 57%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 13%.
Statewide planning activity: Gathering public input in the statewide
planning process;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 55%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 14%.
Statewide planning activity: Developing portions of long-range
statewide transportation plan related to our rural area;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 54%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 19%.
Statewide planning activity: Selecting projects in our rural area to
be included on the STIP;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 53%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 22%.
Statewide planning activity: Determining the transportation funding
priorities for rural areas of the state;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 46%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 24%.
Statewide planning activity: Allocating federal transportation
planning funds to rural areas;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 41%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 20%.
Statewide planning activity: Setting performance goals, measures or
targets for transportation services in our region;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 35%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 15%.
Statewide planning activity: Developing transportation models in our
region to inform planning decisions;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 30%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 18%.
Statewide planning activity: Other;
Percent satisfied or very satisfied: 8%;
Percent dissatisfied or very dissatisfied: 13%.
Source: Regional planning and development organization survey.
[End of figure]
[End of section]
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Phillip Herr, (202) 512-2834 or herrp@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the individual named above, Sara Vermillion (Assistant
Director), Matt Barranca, Richard Brown, Elizabeth Curda, Brad Dubbs,
Elizabeth Eisenstadt, Kathleen Gilhooly, Georgeann Higgins, Hannah
Laufe, Jillian McMichael, Jean McSween, Sara Ann Moessbauer, Jay
Smale, and Don Watson made key contributions to this report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] Funds deposited into the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund
are primarily collected from taxes on motor fuels and truck-related
items and distributed to the states using a series of formulas. States
generally received more funding for highway programs than they
contributed to the highway account of the trust fund in recent years
because more funding was authorized and apportioned to states than was
collected from the states and the account was supplemented by general
funds from the U.S. Treasury. See GAO, Highway Trust Fund: Nearly All
States Received More Funding Than They Contributed in Highway Taxes
Since 2005, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-780]
(Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2010).
[2] Pub. L. No. 111-147, Title IV, 124 Stat. 71, 78 (Mar. 18, 2010).
[3] GAO, Surface Transportation: Restructured Federal Approach Needed
for More Focused, Performance-Based, and Sustainable Programs,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-400] (Washington, D.C.:
Mar. 6, 2008).
[4] U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009:
A Blueprint for Investment and Reform (Washington, D.C., June 18,
2009).
[5] Our discussion of state DOTs in this report includes the state
DOTs in the 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico.
[6] States that employ such organizations refer to them by different
names, including rural planning organizations, regional transportation
planning organizations, and others. In this report, we use the general
term RPO to refer to all such organizations.
[7] In some cases in this report we refer to the long-range statewide
transportation plan as the long-range plan.
[8] 23 U.S.C. § 135(d) and 49 U.S.C. § 5304 (d).
[9] MPOs are required to review and update the metropolitan
transportation plan at least every 4 years in air quality
nonattainment and maintenance areas and at least every 5 years in
attainment areas. An air quality nonattainment area is a region that
the Environmental Protection Agency has designated as not meeting
federal air quality standards. An air quality maintenance area is a
region previously designated as a nonattainment area.
[10] 23 C.F.R. § 450.214(p).
[11] FHWA SPR funds are equal to 2 percent of each state's formula
apportionment of funds for several programs, including the Congestion
Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, Equity Bonus, Highway Bridge,
Highway Safety Improvement, National Highway System, Interstate
Maintenance, and Surface Transportation programs. 23 U.S.C. § 505.
[12] FHWA is required to collect certain data to meet its
responsibilities to Congress and the public, and it relies on states
to collect some of these data through its HPMS. See 23 C.F.R. §
420.105(b). According to FHWA, HPMS data are also used for assessing
highway system performance under FHWA's strategic planning process,
including progress made toward meeting the objectives in FHWA's annual
performance plan.
[13] In addition to statewide transportation planning funds, 1.25
percent of federal-aid highway funding from the Interstate
Maintenance, National Highway System, Surface Transportation,
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, and Highway Bridge
programs is apportioned, based on population, to the states as
metropolitan planning funds. Generally states then provide each of
their MPOs with baseline funding and distribute any remaining balance
according to a formula. See GAO, Metropolitan Planning Organizations:
Options Exist to Enhance Transportation Planning Capacity and Federal
Oversight, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-868]
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 9, 2009).
[14] According to federal statute, 17.28 percent of the amounts
authorized for capital investment grants are allocated to FTA's SPRP
for apportionment to each state according to a statutory formula. 49
U.S.C. § 5305 (g)(2).
[15] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-400].
[16] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-868].
[17] The measures proposed would address the degree to which the long-
range metropolitan transportation plan reduces congestion, improves
mobility and safety, and increases the state of good repair of surface
transportation assets, among others. See Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure, The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of
2009: A Blueprint for Investment and Reform.
[18] GAO, Federal-Aid Highways: FHWA Needs a Comprehensive Approach to
Improving Project Oversight, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-173] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 31,
2005).
[19] GAO, Highway Bridge Program: Condition of Nation's Bridges Shows
Limited Improvement, but Further Actions Could Enhance the Impact of
Federal Investment, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-930T] (Washington, D.C.: July 21,
2010).
[20] 23 C.F.R. § 450.214(b).
[21] GAO, The Results Act: An Evaluator's Guide to Assessing Agency
Annual Performance Plans, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-10.1.20] (Washington, D.C.: April
1998).
[22] USDOT, FHWA, and FTA, Statewide Opportunities for Integrating
Operations, Safety, and Multimodal Planning: A Reference Manual, FHWA-
HEP-10-031 (Washington, D.C., May 2010).
[23] 23 U.S.C. § 135(d) and 49 U.S.C. § 5304(d).
[24] Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (Aug. 3, 1993). GPRA requires
federal agencies to set multiyear strategic goals in their strategic
plans and corresponding annual goals in their performance plans,
measure performance toward the achievement of those goals, and report
on their progress in their annual performance reports.
[25] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-10.1.20].
[26] As discussed, 46 state DOTs reported inventorying the condition
of existing transportation assets when developing their long-range
statewide transportation plans.
[27] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-400].
[28] GAO, Surface Transportation: Strategies Are Available for Making
Existing Road Infrastructure Perform Better, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-920] (Washington, D.C.: July 26,
2007).
[29] In general, an earmark is a congressional directive in
legislation to a federal agency to spend a specific amount of its
budget for a specific entity, project, or service. See GAO, Office of
the General Counsel, Principles of Federal Appropriations Law 3RD
Edition, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.: February 2006).
[30] USDOT, Office of Inspector General, Review of Congressional
Earmarks within Department of Transportation Programs (Washington,
D.C., Sept. 7, 2007).
[31] FHWA division offices and FTA regional offices administer and
obligate funds for projects to grant recipients and respond to
questions from recipients on issues related to eligibility and
transferability, among other things.
[32] GAO, Congressional Directives: Selected Agencies' Processes for
Responding to Funding Instructions, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-209] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 31,
2008)
[33] The economic analyses referred to in our survey were (1) benefit-
cost analysis, used to identify the alternative with the greatest net
benefit by comparing the monetary value of benefits and costs of each
alternative; (2) cost-effectiveness analysis, used to identify the
lowest cost alternative for achieving a level of benefit by comparing
the costs of each alternative; and (3) economic impact analysis, used
to identify the impact of alternatives on the local, regional, or
national economy by measuring the effects derived from each
alternative.
[34] USDOT, FHWA, Office of Asset Management, Economic Analysis Primer
(Washington, D.C., August 2003).
[35] GAO, Highway and Transit Investments: Options for Improving
Information on Projects' Benefits and Costs and Increasing
Accountability for Results, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-172] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 24,
2005).
[36] Pub. L. No. 111-5, Division A, Title XII, 123 Stat. 115, 203
(Feb. 17, 2009).
[37] See appendix I for the process that we used to identify planning
challenges.
[38] For example, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century's
authorization of $171 billion for the Federal-Aid Highway Program from
fiscal years 1998 through 2003 represented an increase of 41 percent
over the $121 billion authorized in the prior 6-year bill. See GAO,
Federal-Aid Highways: Trends, Effect on State Spending, and Options
for Future Program Design, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-802] (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 31,
2004).
[39] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-802].
[40] Insufficient funds was the most frequently cited STIP development
challenge. It was also the third most frequently cited long-range
planning challenge, after involving the public, which was identified
by 20 state DOTs, and data limitations, identified by 18 state DOTs.
[41] For some FHWA and FTA programs, for example, FHWA's Surface
Transportation Program, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality
Improvement Program, and FTA's Urbanized Area Formula Grants, funding
for eligible activities may be used for either highway or transit
programs. For these programs, states may transfer, or flex, certain
funding among some programs, and between FHWA and FTA.
[42] See 23 C.F.R. § 450.104 and 23 C.F.R § 450.216(n).
[43] Administrative modifications to the STIP do not have these
requirements and are therefore less burdensome administratively.
[44] 23 C.F.R. § 450.214(p).
[45] Through the enactment of SAFETEA-LU in August 2005, Congress
statutorily established time frames for updating metropolitan
transportation plans. MPOs are required to review and update the
metropolitan transportation plan at least every 4 years in air quality
nonattainment and maintenance areas and at least every 5 years in
attainment areas.
[46] One state DOT did not indicate whether it had issued more than
one long-range plan.
[47] 23 C.F.R. § 420.111 and § 420.115.
[48] Individual averages ranged from $2.9 million to $50.1 million per
year.
[49] For instance, SAFETEA-LU added a requirement that the long-range
statewide transportation plan include a discussion of potential
environmental mitigation activities, to be developed in consultation
with federal, state, and tribal wildlife, land management, and
regulatory agencies.
[50] Those programs were Projects of National and Regional
Significance, the National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement
Program, and Coordinated Border Infrastructure.
[51] Pub. L. No. 109-59, Title III, § 3006(b) and Title VI, §6001(b)
provide that "The Secretary shall not require a State or metropolitan
planning organization to deviate from its established planning update
cycle to implement changes made by this section. Beginning July 1,
2007, State or metropolitan planning organization plan or program
updates shall reflect changes made by this section."
[52] GAO, Rail Transit: Additional Federal Leadership Would Enhance
FTA's State Safety Oversight Program, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-821] (Washington, D.C.: July 26,
2006) and [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-400].
[53] USDOT officials generally agreed with our recommendations and
stated that, although they do have some performance measures in place
for certain programs, additional performance measures could be
beneficial.
[54] 23 U.S.C. § 133(d)(4),(e)(1).
[55] Conditional approval indicates that FHWA and FTA have determined
that corrective actions need to be taken before the STIP can be found
to meet or substantially meet federal planning requirements. Partial
approval indicates that FHWA and FTA have approved the STIP for only a
specific geographic area of a state.
[56] SAFETEA-LU required all states to develop a statewide-
coordinated, strategic highway safety plan that provides a
comprehensive framework for reducing highway fatalities and serious
injuries on all public roads. The plan is to strategically establish
statewide goals, objectives, and key emphasis areas developed in
consultation with federal, state, local, and private sector safety
stakeholders. States are also required to establish an evaluation
process to analyze and assess results achieved by highway safety
improvement projects. See 23 U.S.C. § 148.
[57] As noted previously, states are required to collect certain data
on the condition of public roads, including pavement condition data,
and report periodically to FHWA's HPMS program. Similarly, states must
inspect and report on the condition of their bridges, generally every
2 years, through FHWA's National Bridge Inspection Program.
[58] USDOT recently published guidance on applying livability
measures. See USDOT, Livability in Transportation Guidebook: Planning
Approaches That Promote Livability, FHWA-HEP-10-028 (Washington, D.C.,
September 2010).
[59] See, for example, GAO, Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing
the Government Performance and Results Act, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-96-118] (Washington, D.C.: June
1996) and [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-400].
[60] USDOT, International Technology Scanning Program, Linking
Transportation Performance and Accountability, FHWA-PL-10-011,
(Washington, D.C., April 2010). This international scan study was
sponsored by FHWA, the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials, and the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program. The report focused on the experiences of Australia,
Great Britain, New Zealand, and Sweden.
[61] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-400].
[62] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-96-118].
[63] For example, see USDOT, Traffic Safety Performance Measures for
States and Federal Agencies, DOT HS 811 025 (Washington, D.C., August
2008).
[64] Office of Management and Budget, Circular No. A-11.
[65] GAO, Results-Oriented Management: Strengthening Key Practices at
FEMA and Interior Could Promote Greater Use of Performance
Information, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-676]
(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 17, 2009).
[66] GAO, Managing for Results: Enhancing Agency Use of Performance
Information for Management Decision Making, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-927] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 9,
2005).
[67] Federal provisions for statewide transportation planning are in
23 U.S.C. § 135 and 49 U.S.C. § 5304. Federal Highway Administration
and Federal Transit Administration regulations implementing these
provisions are in 23 C.F.R. part 450, subpart B.
[68] States that employ such organizations refer to them by different
names, including rural planning organizations, regional transportation
planning organizations, and others. In this report, we use the general
term RPO to refer to all such organizations.
[69] Through our survey of regional planning and development
organizations, we asked survey respondents to indicate whether they
coordinate or conduct surface transportation or transit planning in
nonmetropolitan areas. For the purposes of this report, we refer to
organizations that perform such activities as RPOs. Survey responses
from organizations reporting that they did not coordinate or conduct
surface transportation or transit planning in nonmetropolitan areas
are not included in this appendix. The complete results of this survey
are available in [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-78SP].
For information on our survey methodology, see appendix I.
[End of section]
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