The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has the responsibility to assure that adequate highway transportation information is available to support its functions and responsibilities, including those of the Administration and the Congress. The primary purpose of the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is to serve these data and information needs. The HPMS provides data that reflects the extent, condition, performance, use, and operating characteristics of the nation’s highways. The provision of HPMS data is a cooperative effort with state highway agencies (SHAs), local governments and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) working in partnership to collect, assemble, and report the necessary information. In consultation with its HPMS partners, stakeholders, and customers, FHWA has identified the data to be reported and has provided data definitions and standards. FHWA has developed and maintains PC-based data submittal software and analytical models and techniques that FHWA and a number of States use with the HPMS data to do policy sensitive system, corridor, and subarea planning and programming. Taken together, these activities support informed highway planning, policy making, and decision making at the national, state, and local levels. Contents of the HPMS Field Manual: Chapter I provides general information on the background, scope, and major uses of the HPMS, provides an overview of reporting requirements and introduces the sampling concept. Chapters II through VII provide more specific information on submittal requirements and the major components of an HPMS submittal: Chapter II Data definitions; Chapter III Reporting summary data; Chapter IV Data item coding instructions; Chapter V Linear Referencing System (LRS) reporting requirements; Chapter VI Data update cycles; Chapter VII Sample selection and maintenance. Additional detailed information on specific data coding, sample selection, and technical procedures and requirements are included in Appendices A through N. These appendices should be consulted by those collecting and reporting HPMS data for explanation of specific requirements, techniques, or procedures to be used in developing the HPMS data set for FHWA. (Author/publisher)
Abstract