Measuring State Highway Sustainability: Taking the Fiscal Dimension Into Account. (July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Can
• Other Names: Yusuf Juita-Elena (Wie) guest-editor.; Leavitt William M. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Public works management & policy. Volume 19:Number 3(2014:Jul.)
• Page Start: 255
• Page End: 276
• Publication Date: 2014-07
• Subjects: transportation -- highways -- performance measures -- sustainability index -- principal components analysis; Public works -- United States -- Management -- Periodicals; Public works -- Finance -- Law and legislation -- United States -- Periodicals; 363
• DOI: 10.1177/1087724X14528475
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1087-724X

Abstract

Sustainability is vital to the future of America's transportation infrastructure. Achieving a sustainable highway system contributes to overall transportation development. This article focuses on the development of a sustainability index that can be used to measure and benchmark state highway transportation systems. The index was derived from a principal components analysis (PCA) of 2007 U.S. state highway systems data. Seventeen variables measuring four dimensions of highway sustainability were utilized to derive a composite index. This study finds a wide variation in highway sustainability across the U.S. states and regions. The PCA-based index provides a simple and robust measure of state highway sustainability, enables benchmarking and tracking state highway performance, and helps states identify viable strategies for addressing the challenges toward a sustainable highway transportation system.