Rhode Island Shows Mixed Results in Measuring Performance of Transportation Dollars

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rhode Island shows mixed results when it comes to having the essential tools—goals, performance measures and data—to help policy makers prioritize transportation spending, according to a report by the Pew Center on the States and the Rockefeller Foundation. The state is a leader in measuring transportation's impact on safety, mobility, access and environmental stewardship. But when it comes to jobs and commerce, the state trails behind, and in infrastructure preservation, it shows mixed results.

Most states are entering their fourth year of the ongoing budget crisis, having closed more than $400 billion in budget gaps since 2008. Rhode Island, for example, faces a $302 million gap in fiscal year 2012. At the same time, policy and business leaders across the country are acknowledging that states' transportation systems are essential to helping advance short- and long-term economic growth. Additionally, some members of Congress are proposing that the next surface transportation authorization act, the law that governs the largest federal funding streams for states' transportation systems, more closely tie dollars to performance.

The report, Measuring Transportation Investments: The Road to Results, found considerable differences among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in linking transportation systems to six key goals particularly important to states' economic well-being and taxpayers' quality of life: safety, jobs and commerce, mobility, access, environmental stewardship and infrastructure preservation.

Rhode Island spent an estimated $440 million on transportation in fiscal year 2010. Rhode Island is a leader in measuring the returns on that investment toward safety, mobility, access and environmental stewardship. In the area of environmental stewardship, for instance, the state has collected data on numerous goals and performance measures, including those tracking whether adverse impacts from transportation on air or water quality disproportionately affect minorities, low-income individuals or persons with disabilities. Rhode Island has room for improvement in measuring transportation's progress toward jobs and commerce and infrastructure preservation. For example, although the state aims to use transportation to help support its economy, it does not have measures or data to help assess its performance.

Just 13 states—California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington—have goals, performance measures and data for their transportation systems that policy makers can use to advance economic competitiveness, improve access to jobs, help residents and tourists move about more efficiently and mitigate the effects transportation has on the environment. Nineteen states trail behind, lacking a full array of tools needed to account for the return on investment in their roads, highways, bridges and bus and rail systems. Rhode Island, 17 other states and Washington, DC, fall someplace in between, with mixed results.

"As states wrestle with fiscal challenges, they should know what they are getting for their transportation dollars," said Robert Zahradnik, director of research, Pew Center on the States. "Rhode Island is doing well in many areas, but the state still has room for progress. Lawmakers in Rhode Island should have clear goals, performance measures and data to help them make transportation policy and spending choices."

"The American public expects leaders to manage our transportation investment with an eye toward performance and results. In fact, in our recent Rockefeller Foundation Infrastructure Survey, 90 percent favored strengthening policies that hold government accountable for collecting data and ensuring that investments fit into an overall plan that is on time and on budget," said Nicholas Turner, Rockefeller Foundation managing director.  "This report, which comes at a time when performance and outcomes are such critical pieces of the transportation policy debate, provides both examples of how a handful of states do this well and how many others still have a long road ahead of them."

States were assessed based on a review of more than 800 performance, planning and budget documents. They were rated on one of three levels—leading the way, having mixed results or trailing behind—for each of the six goals. Each state also was given an overall rating.

The six key goals are:

• Safety: This is the area in which states are doing the best job of measuring performance and responding to results. Every state, including Rhode Island, and Washington, DC, has goals and compiles data on indicators such as fatalities and crashes.
• Jobs and commerce: Conversely, only 16 states earn top marks for progress in measuring their transportation systems' impact on jobs and commerce. Some have begun to develop methods to connect transportation dollars more closely to this important goal. Rhode Island trails behind in this area.
• Mobility: Rhode Island, 27 other states and Washington, DC, are leading the way in measuring how well they connect people to their destinations—using the information to combat congestion and manage accidents and other incidents that affect traffic flow.  
• Access: Half the states—including Rhode Island—and Washington, DC, are leading the way in collecting and tracking information about the availability and use of transportation options such as public transit, including those that link workers and employers.
• Environmental stewardship: Thirty-four states and Washington, DC, show mixed results or are trailing behind in having the goals, performance measures or data in place to assess how their transportation systems affect the environment. Rhode Island is leading the way in this area.
• Infrastructure preservation: More than three-quarters of states earn top marks for having needed information to assess their progress and make smart decisions in this area.  Rhode Island shows mixed results in this area.

The report describes policies and practices lawmakers can adopt to collect and use information that can improve taxpayers' return on investment in states' transportation systems, even in difficult fiscal times. Among them:

• Enact or improve performance measurement legislation. At both the federal and state levels, legislation can seek to mandate or incentivize states to go beyond simply collecting information and actually use it to make important transportation policy and funding choices. For instance, in some cases, budget requests are tied to submission of performance data.
• Develop an appropriations process that makes better use of data. States need to develop more comprehensive systems to ensure that policy makers are asking for and using solid information in their deliberations about transportation spending. Some Connecticut legislators, for example, use data from agencies' past performance, including demonstrated accomplishments, before they make new funding choices.
• Increase the use of cost-benefit and other types of economic analysis in making transportation decisions. Economic analysis can be valuable in assessing the cost effectiveness or economic impact of a proposed transportation project. Missouri, for example, estimates the number of jobs that may be created by proposed transportation projects. The state also estimates job creation by specific industry. This method helps inform decisions about transportation investments.

The full report and fact sheets for each state are available at: www.pewcenteronthestates.org/transportation

Video Footage Available
Sound bites from Pew spokespeople and b-roll footage are available from these sources:

• Pathfire VNF Provider A Slug: PEW REPORT ON STATE TRANSPORTATION
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1:00 – 1:15 PM ET, Sound Bites for: CT, DE, FL, MA, MD, NC, NJ, NY, PA, RI
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Pew Center on the States
The Pew Center on the States is a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts that identifies and advances effective solutions to critical issues facing states. Pew is a nonprofit organization that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate civic life.  www.pewcenteronthestates.org.

The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation fosters innovative solutions to many of the world's most pressing challenges, affirming its mission, since 1913, to "promote the well-being" of humanity. Today, the Foundation works to ensure that more people can tap into the benefits of globalization while strengthening resilience to its risks. www.rockefellerfoundation.org.

SOURCE Pew Center on the States