"The broad effort frequently referred to as performance management," states NCSL, "is occurring at all levels of government. The hallmarks of performance management include establishing strategic plans, setting agency goals and objectives, identifying ways to meet them, and measuring how well they are accomplished over time."19 As part of this effort, state DOTs nationwide now have goals and objectives against which their performance is measured.
In most states, the responsibility to develop performance goals and measure DOT progress toward them rests with the executive branch, in accordance with existing law. Performance reports may be submitted to the legislature, which can respond in the form of further reporting requirements, legislation or directives. Some DOTs-those in Missouri, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia and the District of Columbia among them-make at least some performance data publicly available. The DOTs in Missouri and Texas, for example, each offer an online "Tracker" that measures progress on key performance indicators. The Texas DOT also hosts an online "Project Tracker" that gives progress and budget data for all DOT projects in the state.20 The information thus is easily accessible to the legislature, the general public and other interested parties.
In some states, a legislative directive has encouraged or required a move toward DOT performance management. In 2007, for example, the Nevada legislature directed the Transportation Board of Directors to adopt a plan for measuring DOT performance, including separate sets of performance measurements for each division and for the department as a whole.21 In 2000, Maryland legislatively created the DOT's Advisory Committee on Transportation Goals, Benchmarks and Indicators to advise the DOT on developing long-term performance goals and intermediate benchmarks,22 and in 2010, the Minnesota legislature required the DOT to "identify performance targets or indicators for measuring progress and achievement of transportation system goals, objectives, or policies" in the statewide multimodal transportation plan.23 In 2005, Washington enacted a law to require all state agencies, within available funds, to develop and implement a quality management, accountability and performance system, and to have that system independently assessed at least once every three years; in 2009, the legislature delayed this requirement until 2012.24
Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia report a more active legislative role in the development or approval of specific DOT performance goals. In Hawaii, Iowa, Washington and the District of Columbia, the executive branch typically has set most goals; the legislature establishes others on a case-by-case basis. In Florida and Illinois, the DOT sets its goals subject to legislative review and approval. In Kansas and New Mexico, development of goals is a cooperative exercise between the legislature and the executive branch, driven by the secretary of transportation in Kansas and the legislature in New Mexico. In Texas, the state Transportation Commission approves and oversees DOT goals in the strategic plan, then the legislature sets forth key performance measures and targets in the state General Appropriations Act.
As of 2008, 22 state legislatures reported using performance information for executive agencies at some point in the budget process, but performance budgeting-directly linking results to legislative decisions-was rare. A number of states required measures to be used to develop agency budget requests, and some also included the information in agency budgets or appropriations bills.25 In their NCSL-AASHTO survey responses, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming reported the use of DOT performance data in the budget and appropriations process. In Utah's annual appropriations process, the legislature assesses first whether goals have been met before determining funding levels; in Montana, the Legislative Financing Committee now is developing ways to consider performance goals in the budgeting process for all agencies, including the DOT.