Information needs to support state and local transportation decision making into the 21st century : proceedings of the conference, Irvine, California, March 2-5, 1997.

The conference provided an opportunity for participants to (a) identify the types of data that are critical for planning and policy analysis; (b) identify data-collection requirements; (c) discuss the appropriate roles of an relationships among federal, state, and local agencies in the context of data collection and dissemination; and (d) review the impact of technological advances on data collection and dissemination. Participants developed recommendations regarding the data needed to improve state and local transportation decision making in the future. Among the critical information-related challenges are how to (a) take advantage of new data-collection and dissemination technologies; (b) improve data-collection efficiency with no new net burden; (c) produce and deliver the right information to decision makers; (d) effectively measure system performance; and (e) respond to new demands for information from the public and other organizations. A major focus of the conference was the development of findings to assist the U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal agencies in their development of new data-related activities aimed at improving transportation planning at all levels of government. (A)