Transportation Infrastructre: Better Data Needed to Rate the Nation's Highway Conditions.
Abstract
The International Roughness Index is used throughout the world to measure whether travelers experience a rough or a smooth ride while driving on a highway. The index is a quantitative measure of a vehicle's up-and-down movement while traveling. In the United States, the states use specially equipped vehicles to collect data for the index and report the data to the Department of Transportation (DOT). The Department uses the index to describe the condition of pavement across the nation, to set a performance goal for the quality of the nation's highways, and to project pavement investment needs through a computer model called the Highway Economic Requirements System. The Secretary has delegated responsibility for collecting data on pavement conditions to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) (P.L. 105-178) directed GAO to evaluate how the index is used and how reliable the data are and report the results to the Congress no later than June 9, 2000. Accordingly, this report describes (1) the uses FHWA, the states, and others make of the index to assess highway conditions, (2) the consistency and accuracy of state-reported data on highway roughness, and (3) FHWA's efforts to improve the data across states.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA368341
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office