Making Targets Matter: Managing Performance to Enhance Decision-Making Tender, USA - 27634673

Procurement Summary

Country : USA

Summary : Making Targets Matter: Managing Performance to Enhance Decision-Making

Deadline : 14 Nov 2018

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 27634673

Document Ref. No. : NCHRP 02-27

Competition : ICB

Financier : Other Funding Agencies

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 T: 202.334.2000
USA
Email :alemer@nas.edu
URL :http://www.trb.org/

Tender Details

Request for proposals are invited for Making Targets Matter: Managing Performance to Enhance Decision-Making.

Transportation agencies increasingly are adopting Transportation Performance Management (TPM) principles to ensure that good resource allocation decisions are made concerning transportation system development and operations to produce the performance outcomes desired by the agency, its external partners, elected officials, and the public. For purposes of this research, transportation agencies may be state departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan transit or public transportation agencies (MTAs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other government entities responsible for managing transportation system performance.



Wherever it is applied, TPM encourages accountability and helps determine what results are to be pursued, how information from past performance levels and forecast conditions are used to guide investments, how progress toward strategic goals is measured and reported, and how needs for adjustments to improve performance are recognized and acted on. Effective TPM is grounded in sound data and information management, effective communication and collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, and decision-making based on shared understanding among policy makers and operational managers of performance goals and objectives.



A core element of TPM is defined performance targets that connect investment decisions to system results in a manner that is transparent to all stakeholders. Targets are used to assess progress toward achieving strategic goals, guide planning efforts, inform programmatic decisions and adjustments, and communicate with stakeholders. Target setting and performance reporting practices continue to evolve and recently have become cornerstones of USDOT regulatory efforts required under federal legislation. Work sponsored by FHWA, NCHRP, and others has produced resources for practitioners working to address how an agency may judge whether performance trends indicate that targets are being met, to communicate about such matters with stakeholders, or to assist agency determination of whether current funding allocations are likely to improve achievement of performance targets.



Despite progress in developing such resources, practitioners nevertheless lack adequate tools and methods for establishing an effective feedback loop between observed performance and agency performance management decisions. Such feedback can be used by agencies to maintain or adjust their management strategies (and subsequent planning, programming, and target-setting decisions) to ensure that agency goals and objectives are met. Research is needed to assess the state of practice in monitoring performance relative to stated targets and to develop additional resources practitioners can use to operationalize and communicate about feedback between observed performance and management strategies.



OBJECTIVES



The objectives of this research are to (1) assess the state of transportation agency practices regarding use of targets in their TPM decision-making, monitoring performance results, and as necessary adjusting management strategies and desired target levels; and (2) develop resources that agency practitioners can use to implement and maintain a process of monitoring performance and making management decisions based on comparisons of targets and observed system performance. Such resources could include, for example, guidebooks, web-based publications, prototypical planning scenarios, interactive computational tools, and visualization tools. NCHRP envisions a subsequent phase of this research project may be undertaken—contingent upon achievement of these primary objectives—to validate and refine the resources developed in this project and has reserved funding for that purpose.



RESEARCH PLAN



Proposers are asked to describe a detailed research plan to accomplish the project objectives. The following scope description is intended to indicate NCHRP-s expectations and provide a framework for that research plan. Proposers are expected to describe research plans that can realistically be accomplished within the constraints of available funds and contract time and will provide opportunities for NCHRP to review and comment on research progress. Proposers must present their current thinking in sufficient detail to demonstrate their understanding of the issues and the soundness of their approach.

Documents

 Tender Notice