Development of access management performance measures.

PDFTech ReportUVA-2007-02DTRT07-G-0003Access control (Transportation)IntersectionsPerformance measurementStakeholdersUnited StatesVirginia Center for Transportation Innovation and ResearchMid-Atlantic Universities Transportation CenterConnelly, John P.Hoel, Lester A.University of Virginia. Center for Transportation StudiesVirginia. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-Access ManagementUS Transportation CollectionIn 2007, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation calling for Access Management, theregulation of entrances and intersections along highway corridors in Virginia. Some property owners may opposeaccess management. Therefore, performance measures are needed to assess whether the access managementprogram is achieving its intended results. An important step of developing performance measures is to reach out tostakeholders. This can be both time consuming and expensive. This study (1) shows the effect of stakeholderinvolvement on the development of performance measures, (2) evaluates the challenges associated with involvingstakeholders, and (3) makes recommendations for stakeholder involvement in the future.Two groups of stakeholders were involved: (1) the people who will be using the measures and (2) the people who willbe implementing the measures. A survey was conducted of transportation professionals in Virginia to representpeople who will be using the measures. A steering committee of VDOT officials was appointed to represent peoplewho will be implementing the measures.Involving these stakeholders affected the recommended performance measures in the following ways: (1) Measuresmust be easy to apply. (2) The final forms of the measures were tailored to VDOT. (3) Multiple measures were usedrather than a single aggregate measure. (4) A target of improvement over time was set for all measures. (5) Safetywas found to be important to measure. (6) Measures should involve a tangible result. (7) The uniform application ofaccess management standards is important to measure.There are numerous challenges associated with involving stakeholders. If not properly handled, this task can becomevery time consuming. Some challenges are: (1) Thorough work must be conducted before, during, and afterconducting a survey. (2) Selection of criteria to evaluate performance measures requires input from stakeholders. (3)Interaction with stakeholders requires preparation and follow-up. (4) When tailoring measures to a specific user,ability to compare to national standards should be retained.The following recommendations are made: (1) When performance measures are developed, involve the people whowill be using and implementing them. (2) Adequately prepare for all interaction with stakeholders