Technical Report of Southern California Association of Governments’ Transportation Performance Indicators

The overall goal of the staff of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is to develop specific, quantifiable, and easily understandable performance indicators for the region’s transportation system that better inform elected officials and policy boards of the broad array of choices for investing public and private funds. SCAG’s performance indicators are intended to capture the important relationships between transportation and a diversity of public policy concerns. The seven performance indicators used in the preparation of the 1997 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) are mobility, accessibility, environment, cost-effectiveness, reliability, safety, and customer satisfaction. SCAG applies these performance indicators to each of its 13 subregions and to the region as a whole. The federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and SCAG’s 1994 Regional Mobility Element, set the stage for the abandonment of the old and popular level of service measure. SCAG’s performance indicators approach the concept of performance from the perspective of the users of the transportation system, in contrast to traditional approaches that focused more on facilities and vehicles. SCAG is currently at approximately the midpoint in the development of the 1997 RTP and therefore has considerable practice in working with the performance indicators. This experience confirms the value of performance indicators as a planning tool.