An assessment is given of the adequacy of data and analytical processes to enable national transportation policy planning to be readily accomplished. AASHTO initiated a process called "AASHTO 2020" to develop an organisational position on future federal legislation. As part of the 2020 effort, needs were estimated for each mode and analytical judgements were made on the consequences of meeting various need (service) levels. After the technical work was completed, the AASHTO Standing Committee on Planning was asked to review the problems encountered in estimating needs and making tradeoffs among different funding and programmatic alternatives. A questionnaire was developed to determine, for each mode, the adequacy of the data, the information that should be collected on a continuous basis, and the types of questions that should be answered from the strategic planning process. This paper presents an analysis for each modal area, including comments on the current availability of data and analytical techniques as well as recommendations for each mode.
Abstract