RD116 - Interim Report of the Transportation Accountability Commission
Executive Summary: In recent years, Virginia has initiated several reforms designed to increase the accountability and transparency of state government. Most recently, Governor Timothy M. Kaine created the Transportation Accountability Commission to review and evaluate existing methods to measure transportation system performance, as well as the performance of the transportation agencies and their executives, and to make recommendations to increase performance and accountability. The Commission reviewed Virginia’s modal agencies, including the main duties of the three transportation policy boards, reviewed and evaluated existing methods used to measure performance and accountability, and discussed the state of the practice in other states and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Transportation performance management in Virginia is governed by seven distinct but interrelated systems. Three address transportation system performance; four address agency and executive performance. The Commission’s interim findings and recommendations are as follows: Transportation System Performance Finding 1 - Transportation agencies and policy boards should adopt and embrace overarching goals. Finding 2 - Overarching goals should be established prior to identifying performance measures. Finding 3 - The goals identified in VTrans2025 and the Virginia Transportation Performance Report - 2006 are reasonable and sufficiently broad to be used as a starting point. Finding 4 - Virginia’s transportation agencies have already implemented several performance management initiatives. Finding 5 - In addition to presenting information based on existing resources, it is also important to indicate what could be achieved if more resources were made available. Transportation Executive and Agency Accountability and Performance Finding 6 - Several of the current performance measures are outside the “line-of-sight” or purview of an individual agency head (for example, number of fatalities). Recommendation 1 - Develop shared objectives and performance measures among multiple agency heads when a performance measure is beyond the span of control of an individual agency head. Finding 7 - Performance measurement targets have been established for many of Virginia’s key measures, but they are typically set for 2010. Effective targets will have both short-term and long-term milestones. Without incremental milestones against which progress can be measured, long-term targets may never be met. Commission members further indicated that stretch targets/goals should be created without punishment for failure of full achievement. Recommendation 2 – Develop stretch targets for agency heads and set interim performance targets. Finding 8 - The process used to evaluate the performance of agency executives captures agency operations and outcomes but does not directly address agency heads’ leadership abilities. Recommendation 3 - Include a qualitative leadership component in the agency head performance review process. Leadership includes but is not limited to: • Champions Governor’s priorities; understands the importance of goals and relationships • Communicates the agency’s mission, vision and shared values • Leads by example • Acts in a professional and ethical manner within and outside the agency • Manages shifting priorities; makes tough calls; delivers on promises • Interacts effectively with diverse constituency groups, including General Assembly members, board(s) and public and government officials • Promotes client/customer service Finding 9 - Executive pay incentives should be given greater consideration as a performance management tool. The Commission acknowledged that government agency heads are motivated by the desire to do well and to be reappointed. There was also recognition, based on their collective experiences, that bonus pay might also play an important role. Recommendation 4 - Utilize or amend provisions currently available in the Appropriation Act to provide opportunity for additional compensation and incentives when executive performance expectations are exceeded. Finding 10 - Whether pertaining to executive or agency performance goals, lessons learned frequently are not carried forward because of the one-term gubernatorial system in Virginia. Recommendation 5 - Develop legislative or administrative plans to foster longevity in performance measurement processes and lessons learned. Institutionalizing lessons learned will create staying power from one administration to another. Performance management is defined as “a way of monitoring progress toward a result or goal” and represents a tool for establishing and maintaining accountability and, therefore, credibility. It also provides opportunity to communicate to various stakeholders. Key features of best practices garnered from presentations and a survey of other states include the following: Key Feature/Best Practice 1 - Effective performance management links performance measures to specific policy goals and strategies to achieve those goals. Key Feature/Best Practice 2 - Effective performance management will focus on a few key performance measures when reporting to the public and key stakeholders. More detailed measures can be used to support the higher-level measures. At a system level, the number of performance measures should be relatively small. Key Feature/Best Practice 3 - Effective performance management should distinguish between output measures and outcome measures. Agencies typically have more control over output measures. Key Feature/Best Practice 4 - Effective performance management will develop performance measures that are “realistic” in terms of the resources used and that are justified by their utility to managers and decision makers. Key Feature/Best Practice 5 - Begin with existing data and identify what should be collected in the future. The development of performance management will evolve over time, and experience may dictate different performance measures as time progresses. Waiting for perfect measures will delay the process. Key Feature/Best Practice 6 - Transportation agencies are encouraged to take advantage of and learn from benchmarking and peer comparisons. |
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