Transportation Performance Management
FHWA defines Transportation Performance Management as a strategic approach that uses system information to make investment and policy decisions to achieve national performance goals.
The national Federal-aid Highway Program performance goals as established by Congress are:
For more information on the specific targets for each performance area please see below or click here for the Transportation System Performance Report in our Regional Transportation Plan.
HSIP and Highway Safety Targets
On March 15, 2016, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published the final rule for the HSIP and Safety Performance Management (Safety PM) Measures in the Federal Register with an effective date of April 14, 2016.
The 2017 New York Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is intended to reduce “the number of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes on public roads in New York State.” The SHSP guides the NYSDOT, the MPOs, and other safety partners in addressing safety and defines a framework for implementation activities to be carried out across New York State. The NYSDOT Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) annual report documents the statewide performance targets.
On August 31, 2023, NYSDOT established statewide safety targets for calendar year 2024. The GBNRTC agreed to support the NYSDOT statewide 2024 targets on November 13, 2023, via Resolution 2023-21.
Performance Measures Resolution:
Pavement Condition Targets
Measures (PM2) On January 18, 2017, FHWA published the Pavement and Bridge Condition Performance Measures Final Rule in the Federal Register. This second FHWA performance measure rule, which has an effective date of May 20, 2017, established four performance measures to assess pavement conditions for the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP).
The pavement condition measures represent the percentage of lane-miles on the Interstate and Non-Interstate National Highway System (NHS) that are in good or poor condition. FHWA established five pavement condition metrics: International Roughness Index (IRI); cracking percent; rutting; faulting; and Present Serviceability Rating (PSR). FHWA set a threshold for each metric to establish good, fair, or poor conditions. A pavement section is classified as being in good condition if three or more metric ratings are good, and in poor condition if two or more metric ratings are poor. Pavement sections that are not good or poor are classified as fair.
NYSDOT set the Pavement Condition (PM2) Performance and Targets in December 2022. The two-year and four-year targets represent expected pavement and bridge conditions at the end of calendar years 2024 and 2026, respectively.
The GBNRTC agreed to support these Pavement Condition Targets on March 3, 2023, via Resolution 2023-6.
Public Measures Resolution:
Bridge Condition Targets
Measures (PM2) On January 18, 2017, FHWA published the Pavement and Bridge Condition Performance Measures Final Rule in the Federal Register. This second FHWA performance measure rule, which has an effective date of May 20, 2017, established two performance measures to assess bridge conditions for the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP).
The bridge condition measures represent the percentage of bridges, by deck area, on the NHS that are in good condition or poor condition. The condition of each bridge is evaluated by assessing four bridge components: deck, superstructure, substructure, and culverts. The Final Rule created a metric rating threshold for each component to establish good, fair, or poor conditions. If the lowest rating of the four metrics is greater than or equal to seven, the structure is classified as good. If the lowest rating is five or six, it is classified as fair. If the lowest rating is less than or equal to four, the structure is classified as poor.
NYSDOT set the Bridge Condition (PM2) Performance and Targets listed in December 2022. The two-year and four-year targets represent expected pavement and bridge conditions at the end of calendar years 2024 and 2026, respectively.
The GBNRTC agreed to support these transit asset targets on March 3, 2023, via Resolution 2023-6.
Public Measures Resolution:
National Highway System (NHS) Performance Targets (PM3)
On January 18, 2017, FHWA published the national highway system (NHS) performance, freight, and congestion mitigation and air quality (CMAQ) Performance Measures Final Rule in the Federal Register. This third and final FHWA performance measure rule, which has an effective date of May 20, 2017 established two performance measures to assess the performance of the NHS Program.
The two NHS performance measures represent the reliability of travel times for all vehicles on the Interstate and Non-Interstate NHS. FHWA established the Level of Travel Time Reliability (LOTTR) metric to calculate reliability on both the Interstate and Non-Interstate NHS. LOTTR is defined as the ratio of longer travel times (80th percentile) to a normal travel time (50th percentile) during four time periods from the hours of 6 AM to 8 PM each day (AM peak, midday, and PM peak on Mondays through Fridays and weekends).
The LOTTR ratio is calculated for each segment of the applicable roadway. A segment is reliable if its LOTTR is less than 1.5 during all time periods. If one or more time periods have a LOTTR of 1.5 or above, that segment is unreliable. The measures are expressed as the percentage of person-miles traveled on the Interstate and Non-Interstate NHS that are reliable.
In December 2022, NYSDOT reported system performance results for the last two years of the performance period (2020 and 2021) to FHWA, as well as progress toward achieving the four-year targets. The two-year and four-year targets represent expected performance at the end of calendar years 2024 and 2026, respectively. The GBNRTC agreed to support these NHS targets on March 3, 2023, via Resolution 2023-6.
Public Measures Resolution:
Freight Performance Targets (PM3)
On January 18, 2017, FHWA published the system performance, freight, and congestion mitigation and air quality (CMAQ) Performance Measures Final Rule in the Federal Register. This third and final FHWA performance measure rule, which has an effective date of May 20, 2017, established one performance measure to assess the performance of the freight movement on the Interstate System.
The single freight movement performance measure represents the reliability of travel times for trucks on the Interstate system. FHWA established the Truck Travel Time Reliability (TTTR) Index, which is defined as the ratio of longer truck travel times (95th percentile) to a normal truck travel time (50th percentile).
The TTTR Index is calculated for each segment of the Interstate system over five time periods from all hours of each day (AM peak, midday, and PM peak on Mondays through Fridays, overnights for all days, and weekends). The highest TTTR Index value among the five time periods is multiplied by the length of the segment, and the sum of all length-weighted segments is then divided by the total length of the Interstate to generate the TTTR Index.
In December 2022, NYSDOT reported system performance results for the last two years of the performance period (2020 and 2021) to FHWA, as well as progress toward achieving the four-year targets. The two-year and four-year targets represent expected performance at the end of calendar years 2024 and 2026, respectively. The GBNRTC agreed to support these transit asset targets on March 3, 2023, via Resolution 2023-6.
Public Measures Resolution:
Transit Asset Management Targets
On July 26, 2016, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published the final Transit Asset Management rule. This rule applies to all recipients and subrecipients of Federal transit funding that own, operate, or manage public transportation capital assets. The rule defines the term “state of good repair,” requires that public transportation providers develop and implement transit asset management (TAM) plans, and establishes the state of good repair standards and performance measures for four asset categories: rolling stock, equipment, transit infrastructure, and facilities. The rule became effective on October 1, 2016. Public transportation providers set transit asset targets annually and must provide the targets to each MPO in which the transit provider’s projects and services are programmed in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). MPOs must then set targets after transit agencies set initial targets, and again when updating subsequent MTPs. MPOs can either agree to program projects that will support the transit provider’s targets or set their own separate regional targets for the MPO’s planning area. The NFTA set the transit asset targets listed in Table 3 on February 27, 2023. The GBNRTC agreed to support these transit asset targets on March 3, 2023, via Resolution 2023-7. With this action, the GBNRTC agrees to plan and program projects that will, once implemented, make progress toward achieving the transit asset targets.
Performance Measure Resolution:
Transit Safety Targets
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published a final Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTSAP) rule on July 19, 2018. Under this rulemaking, providers of public transportation systems that are a recipient or sub-recipient of FTA Urbanized Area Formula Grant Program funds under 49 U.S.C. Section 5307 or that operate a rail transit system that is subject to FTA’s State Safety Oversight Program, must develop and implement a PTASP based on a Safety Management Systems approach. As the transit provider in the region, the NFTA is subject to the PTASP rule. NFTA is responsible for developing a PTASP and establishing transit safety targets annually.
Transit Safety Targets
Table 6 presents the transit safety targets established by the NFTA on February 27, 2023. The GBNRTC agreed to support NFTA’s transit safety targets on March 3, 2023, via Resolution 2023-8. With this action, the GBNRTC agrees to plan and program projects that will, once implemented, make progress toward achieving the transit safety targets.
Performance Measure Resolution:
GHG PM Target
From the FHWA Office of Planning, Environment and Realty regarding the status of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Performance Measure:
“The purpose of the email is to provide an update on the greenhouse gas performance measure. As you know, twenty-two States filed two lawsuits challenging FHWA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions Final Rule. Pursuant to negotiations in these cases, FHWA agreed to temporarily not seek to enforce the February 1, 2024, deadline for States to submit initial targets and reports through March 29, 2024. On March 27, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated and remanded the Final Rule to DOT, in effect nullifying the rule Nationwide. Consistent with the Court’s decision, States and MPOs are not required to submit initial targets and reports at this time. We will provide more information as we examine next steps.”
Greenhouse Gas Final Rule:
FHWA has issued a final rule that establishes a greenhouse gas (GHG) performance measure for State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). The measure is part of the National Highway Performance Program and assesses the percent change in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on the National Highway System relative to 2022 levels (23 CFR 490.507(b)).
Consistent with the framework of Transportation Performance Management (TPM), State DOTs will establish 2- and 4-year statewide emissions reduction targets, and MPOs will establish 4-year emissions reduction targets for their metropolitan planning areas (§ 490.105(e)-(f)). In addition, the rule requires certain MPOs serving UZAs with populations of 50,000 or more to establish additional joint targets. FHWA will soon be posting applicability tables to help identify MPOs that are required to set joint UZA targets.
State DOTs and MPOs have the flexibility to set targets that work for their respective climate change policies and other policy priorities, so long as they are declining. State DOTs and MPOs are also required to report on their progress in meeting the targets. The final rule applies to the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To realize the benefits of a GHG measure as soon as is practicable, State DOTs will first establish targets and report those targets by February 1, 2024. Subsequent targets will be established and reported no later than October 1, 2026, in line with other TPM measures (§490.107(b)-(d)).