Performance measures should help to determine how well the completed project satisfies the purpose and need as agreed to by the full range of stakeholders.  An effective CSS measurement program should become an integral component of every project team’s responsibilities. The principles of CSS do not always apply only to large projects, so measurement initiatives should include large and small projects. For example, minor roadway rehabilitation projects may have other benefits to communities through which they pass if they are used as an opportunity to address community needs, as well as to ensure smooth pavement.  Likewise, what seems like a minor repaving job could have a significant effect on the scenic and/or historic qualities of a road if the project includes widening shoulders or the roadway without addressing the impact on the scenic and historic qualities.

 

Where benchmarks for measuring the success of transportation improvement projects have traditionally focused on safety, operations, and financial feasibility, consider measuring the success of CSS project based on some of the following:

• Environmental compatibility
• Visual compatibility with the community setting
• Financial feasibility
• How well the project is embraced by the community
• Measurement efforts should be tailored to project needs.  Measuring the performance of your CSS project will likely be a learning experience, and GDOT project managers can expect that the set of CSS performance measures will evolve over time.

Measuring Project Outcomes

Outcome measures that will allow project teams to gauge success of a project include:

• Project Vision or Goals
• Stakeholder Satisfaction
• Quality Assurance

Measuring Project Processes

Project teams practicing CSS are encouraged to think in terms of processes as well as outcomes.  A wide range of measures in these focus areas is possible, and measures that fit the unique circumstances surrounding each project should be considered. 

 

Opportunities for GDOT project managers to measure the performance of project processes include:

 

• Self assessment of multi-disciplinary project teams
• Evaluating how well stakeholders and the public were engaged
• Determining if consensus was met on a project’s vision, goals, needs, desires, and problems 
• The Alternatives Analysis process
• Construction and maintenance

The Transportation Research Board recently published NCHRP Report 069 Measures of Context-Sensitive Solutions – A Guidebook for State DOTs which offers guidelines as well as relevant examples for measuring CSS outcomes and processes.  (TRB, 2004)