Performance of the U.S. transportation system affects the lives of its citizens on a daily basis, and management and operations for transportation systems focus on improving this performance. A major step toward enhancing the capabilities of transportation systems is to collect data on a number of performance characteristics. Monitoring key measures enables transportation officials to implement the best strategies to improve performance. As more transportation agencies move aggressively toward improving operations and measuring performance, the need for comprehensive, high-quality data becomes imperative. This article focuses on this topic and discusses data users and their needs, recent data collection efforts, the benefits of data collection, and some of the challenges ahead in this area. (Author/publisher)
Abstract