Transportation Infrastructure: Better Data Needed to Rate the Nation's Highway Conditions
RCED-99-264
Published: Sep 27, 1999. Publicly Released: Sep 27, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on federal and state efforts to assess the conditions of the nation's highways, focusing on: (1) the uses the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA), the states, and others make of the International Roughness Index to assess highway conditions; (2) the consistency and accuracy of state-reported data on highway roughness; and (3) FHwA's efforts to improve the data across states.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | To enable FHwA to reliably report on the condition of the nation's highways and accurately estimate the nation's highway investment needs, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FHwA, to revise the agency's guidelines to exclude profiling technologies known to produce significant errors and achieve consistency with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' protocols. |
Closed – Implemented
The Federal Highway Administration revised its Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) field manual in December 1999 to achieve consistency with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) protocols. The manual revision also excluded the use of profiling technologies known to produce significant errors. The agency's 2001 Performance Plan, issued December 2000, directed FHWA field office staff to evaluate their respective state's IRI data quality and the equipment and protocols used to gather that data for the HPMS. These revisions are responsive to the recommendations.
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| Federal Highway Administration | The Administrator, FHwA, should work with the states to implement the revised guidelines. |
Closed – Implemented
FHWA provided copies of GAO's report to each state DOT and each FHWA state division office. FHWA's 2001 Performance Plan directed FHWA field offices to assist states with implementing improved equipment and protocols for measuring pavement smoothness. FHWA arranged an October 2000 AASHTO meeting with profiler vendors and state agency staff to discuss collecting IRI data with standardized state profiling equipment. However, the meeting participants did not agree that a single standard profiler should be produced for all states to use when gathering IRI data. FHWA resolved its differences concerning IRI reporting with a "problem" state, after that state obtained new profilers and procedures. These actions respond to the recommendation.
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Topics
Comparative analysisData integrityEvaluation methodsFederal aid for highwaysstate relationsHighway planningHighway researchPavement performancePerformance measuresPublic roads or highwaysRoad pavementsRoad surfacesStatistical dataRoad repairs