Measuring and Improving Infrastructure Performance (1996) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 21-31
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From page 21... ...
At the same time, new demands for infrastructure services have arisen, for example, to reduce losses from highway accidents, control water pollution from new development, and provide faster travel between distant places. In addition, an increasing awareness has emerged about the broader role of infrastructure in shaping development and the environment.
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From page 22... ...
More than three-quarters of the nation's population now resides in metropolitan areas, and these urban agglomerations account for a major share of our economic output. Within each metropolitan area, myriad local government bodies hold limited authority and often compete for development and tax revenues.
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From page 23... ...
To provide practical background for their study, and to explore how concepts of performance are used by decision makers, the committee visited three cities selected to represent typical situations in which performance measures might be used: Baltimore, Maryland; Portland, Oregon; and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
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From page 24... ...
MBYs and LULUs.5 The challenge the committee faced in this study was to develop a systematic framework for describing, measuring, and assessing infrastructure performance-a framework that can be used by decision makers. ~ the end, these decision makers include not only the engineers, architects, urban planners, public administrators, elected officials, and other professionals who develop and operate infrastructure but all the citizens, residents, and neighbors who own, use, and otherwise feel the impact of infrastructure.
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103-62) , characterized by the White House as President Clinton's first step toward "reinventing" government, requires federal agencies to develop strategic plans and annual performance plans and to prepare program performance reports.
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From page 26... ...
, giving the study's results broader relevance; but such topics as rural access, interstate water and waste transfers, the remediation of sites of toxic chemical and nuclear contamination, and national energy policy are beyond the scope of this report. SEEKING REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE Seeking to ensure that its recommendations on performance measurement would be most useful, the committee visited three metropolitan areas to explore ways in which local officials currently manage their infrastructure and judge its performance.
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From page 27... ...
the regions should be representative of the nation's diversity of urban regions and not extreme situations, for example, size and population, area of the country and climate, political structure, and economic structure; (2) each case should present a relatively stable situation for assessment, that is, a situation not influenced by major disasters, natural catastrophes, or other unusual events that would have lasting impact on the normally anticipated pattern of economic growth, stasis, or decline in the region; and (3)
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From page 28... ...
to define performance in an urban region runs counter to the typical institutional structure of infrastructure. This institutional structure currently consists largely of organizations concerned with both programs and projects within a single mode.
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From page 29... ...
The measurement is an essential first step in effective decision making aimed at achieving improved performance. The committee's challenge was to develop a workable definition of performance and bases for its measurement wherein broad economic, social, environmental, and possibly even political goals can be translated into specific measures and then into standards usable in making decisions about particular infrastructure facilities and operations.
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From page 30... ...
Chapter 4 in particular recommends Me dimensions and broad measures of infrastructure performance and suggests examples of specific indicators for the four broad categories of infrastructure included within me study's primary focus. Chapter ~ deals win a number of considerations related to implementing performance-based infrastructure management in a metropolitan area.
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From page 31... ...
and Me U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' National Economic Development Procedures Manual (USAGE, 1991~.
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