Transportation Systems Health: Concepts, Applications & Significance

This report offers conceptual and analytical frameworks and application examples to address the question: how can broader statewide (or national) objectives be achieved while formally taking into consideration different regional priorities and constraints? -- a pertinent multi-scalar and multi-dimensional issue in performance-based planning under MAP-21: Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century. The study defines health as the extent to which a transportation system meets the deficiency (i.e., basic) and growth (i.e., beyond basic) needs of the communities it serves, from various decision-making and stakeholder perspectives (e.g., state, regional, city, urban, rural, etc.). A conceptual framework for transportation system health is developed, using Maslow’s Theory of Motivation, and applied to characterize regional transportation priorities in the state of Georgia. A supporting analytical framework is developed to analyze regional highway corridor health. The framework applies goal programming methods to develop corridor utility values that capture state and regional priorities in different corridors. Analysis results show that the relative priority rankings of corridors based on state versus regional priorities can differ, and can inform decisions to augment overall statewide and regional social and economic benefits. The study explores an expanded set of performance measures, using existing and available data for urban and rural areas. It explains how regional deficiency-growth profiles and statewide goals can inform the selection of performance measures and setting of performance targets. The report concludes with implementation guidelines to formally incorporate system health considerations in transportation planning and decision making in state transportation agencies.