System Performance Report

As a region, and a planning organization, we have certain expectations for how our system performs. We use several different performance measures (including measures federally mandated by the Federal Highway Administration) to help us monitor how we are doing meeting and exceeding those expectations. 

The federal performance measures that MetroPlan Orlando tracks are:

• Performance Measure 1 (PM 1): USDOT Highway Safety
• Performance Measure 2 (PM 2): USDOT Pavement and Bridge Conditions
• Performance Measure 3 (PM 3): System Performance/Freight
• Performance Measure 4 (PM 4): Transit Asset Management
• Performance Measure 5 (PM 5): Transit Safety Measures

To learn more about the federal performance management process, click   here  .

Performance Measure 1 (PM1) focuses on highway safety and crash statistics. Safety performance measure targets are required to be adopted on an annual basis. MPOs are required to establish safety targets annually within 180 days of when FDOT established targets. MPOs establish targets by either agreeing to program projects that will support the statewide targets or establish their own quantitative targets for the MPO planning area. In August of each calendar year (CY), FDOT reports targets to FHWA for the following calendar year. On August 31, 2022, FDOT established statewide safety performance targets for calendar year 2023.

FDOT publishes statewide safety performance targets in the Highway Safety Improvement Plan (HSIP) Annual Report that it transmits to FHWA each year.  FDOT adopted a vision of zero traffic-related fatalities in 2012. This, in effect, became FDOT’s target for zero traffic fatalities and quantified the policy set by Florida’s Legislature more than 35 years ago (Section 334.046(2), Florida Statutes, emphasis added): “The mission of the Department of Transportation shall be to provide a safe statewide transportation system…”

MetroPlan Orlando agrees to plan and program projects so they contribute toward the accomplishment of the FDOT safety target of zero and has adopted the same vision-zero target for the MPO planning area.

Both FDOT and MetroPlan Orlando use Vision Zero as our performance targets for fatalities, serious injuries, and non-motorized serious injuries. Vision Zero is a strategy that works to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. Ultimately, it means we all arrive at our destinations safely.

The latest safety conditions are updated annually with each system performance report, to track performance over time in relation to baseline conditions and established targets. Both the statewide and MPO 5-year rolling averages are trending away from where we want to be – farther away from the Vision Zero target. Both the state and the MPO region have seen an increase in population, employment, and drivers. As trends of rising population and licensed drivers continue, the crash data suggests that agencies need to continually address highway safety issues.

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Performance Measure 2 (PM2) measures the condition of the pavement for both interstate roads and non-interstate National Highway System (NHS) roads, roads in the Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET), major strategic highway network connectors, and intermodal connectors. Federal rules require state DOTs to establish two-year and four-year targets for the bridge and pavement condition measures. On December 16, 2022, FDOT established statewide bridge and pavement targets for the second performance period ending in 2025. These targets are identical to those set for 2019 and 2021, respectively. Florida’s performance through 2021 exceeds the targets. The two-year targets represent bridge and pavement condition at the end of calendar year 2023, while the four-year targets represent condition at the end of 2025.

MPOs must set four-year targets for the six bridge and pavement condition measures within 180 days of when FDOT established targets. MPOs can either agree to program projects that will support the statewide targets or establish their own quantifiable targets for the MPO’s planning area for one or more measures.

When pavement is in good condition, it means no major investment is needed. Pavement in fair condition suggests that only minor investment is needed, and pavement in poor condition suggests major reconstruction is needed. While there is still work to be done regarding interstate pavement reaching good condition, the rest of the region meets the statewide and MPO targets for both the 2- and 4-year targets.

As a part of PM2, NHS bridge conditions are also reviewed. These measures assess bridge deck, superstructure, substructure, and culverts conditions, which are assigned the same good and poor standards or grades as pavement conditions. Both the State of Florida and the MPO region meet their 2-year and 4-year target goals for NHS bridge conditions.

Travel reliability is how consistent or predictable travel conditions are for a trip or on a certain road. Some roads have very repeatable and consistent conditions day-to-day and are considered "reliable," while others are more inconsistent with delays and travel times and are considered "unreliable." A congested road is still considered reliable if the congestion is consistent and there are predictable travel times at certain times of the day.

Federal rules require state DOTs to establish two-year and four-year targets for the system performance and freight targets. On December 16, 2022, FDOT established statewide performance targets for the second performance period ending in 2025. These targets are identical to those set for 2019 and 2021, respectively. Florida’s performance through 2021 exceeds the targets. The two-year targets represent performance at the end of calendar year 2023, while the four-year targets represent performance at the end of 2025. MPOs must establish four-year targets for all three performance measures. MPOs can either agree to program projects that will support the statewide targets or establish their own quantifiable targets for the MPO’s planning area for one or more measures.

Level of Time Travel Reliability (LOTTR) is a part of Performance Measure 3 (PM3) and is how we measure how reliable travel times are. The LOTTR measures the variability of travel times that occur on a facility or a trip over a period of time. Reliability measures the benefit of traffic management and is significant to everyone who uses the transportation network, whether they’re motor vehicle users, transit riders, freight shippers, or others.

The target for LOTTR is 1.5. A roadway with an LOTTR less than 1.5 is considered reliable while greater than 1.5 is considered unreliable.

An example of LOTTR can be seen during an everyday commute to work. If your commute to work should take 30 minutes on an average workday, your baseline travel time of 30 minutes is 1. However, if your commute has frequent variability in travel times, and you must realistically plan for your average commute of 30 minutes to sometimes take 45 minutes, your LOTTR would be 1.5. With a LOTTR above 1.5, the roadway would be considered unreliable.

The Truck Travel Time Reliability (TTTR) is similar to LOTTR but is used for trucks and freight movement. TTTR for the region has decreased from a baseline of 2.62 in 2019 to 2.25 in 2023, but this metric still exceeds the statewide and MPO 2- and 4-year targets of 1.75.

Reliability for the region can be visualized on a map in MetroPlan Orlando's   Congestion Management Process   document (Figure 11).

Transit Asset Management (TAM) is a rule published by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and applies to all recipients and sub-recipients of federal transit funding that own, operate, or manage public transportation capital assets. The rule defines the term “state of good repair,” which requires that public transportation providers develop and implement TAM plans, and establish state of good repair standards and performance measures for four asset categories: equipment, rolling stock, infrastructure, and facilities.

Public transportation providers are required to establish and report TAM targets annually for the following fiscal year. Each public transportation provider or its sponsors must share its targets with each MPO in which the public transportation provider’s projects and services are programmed in the MPO’s TIP. MPOs are not required to establish TAM targets annually each time the transit provider establishes targets. Instead, MPO targets must be established when the MPO updates the LRTP (although it is recommended that MPOs reflect the most current transit provider targets in the TIP if they have not yet taken action to update MPO targets). When establishing TAM targets, the MPO can either agree to program projects that will support the transit provider targets or establish its own separate regional TAM targets for the MPO planning area. MPO targets may differ from agency targets, especially if there are multiple transit agencies in the MPO planning area. To the maximum extent practicable, public transit providers, states, and MPOs must coordinate with each other in the selection of performance targets.

MetroPlan Orlando is served by two Tier I Transit Service Providers: LYNX and SunRail. The TAM targets for LYNX and SunRail were adopted in February 2020. One commonly used target for transit asset management is Useful Life Benchmark (ULB), which tells us when vehicles need to be replaced. Buses typically have a Useful Life Benchmark of 14 years. If a vehicle exceeds its ULB, it’s time for a replacement. The LYNX Transit Asset Performance Measures are shown below. Notably, none of the in-service LYNX buses have exceeded their ULB at this time, which means that no buses must be replaced.

The SunRail Transit Asset Performance Measures are shown below. Currently, none of the SunRail transit vehicles have exceeded their Useful Life Benchmark, which means that no service vehicles need to be replaced.

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The FTA requires operators of public transportation systems that receive federal financial assistance to develop and implement a Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP) based on a safety management systems approach. The development and implementation of PTASPs are anticipated to help ensure that transit systems are safe nationwide. Transit safety performance measures are adopted and set targets for a transit agency based on safety performance measures established in the National Public Transportation Safety Plan (NPTSP).

The regulations apply to all operators of public transportation that are a recipient or sub-recipient of FTA Urbanized Area Formula Grant Program funds under 49 U.S.C. Section 5307, or that operate a rail transit system that is subject to FTA’s State Safety Oversight Program. The PTASP regulations do not apply to certain modes of transit service that are subject to the safety jurisdiction of another Federal agency, including passenger ferry operations regulated by the United States Coast Guard, and commuter rail operations that are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.

In Florida, each Section 5307 or 5311 public transportation provider must develop a System Safety Program Plan (SSPP) under Chapter 14-90, Florida Administrative Code. FDOT technical guidance recommends that Florida’s transit agencies revise their existing SSPPs to be compliant with the new FTA PTASP requirements.

Each public transportation provider that is subject to the PTASP regulations must certify that its SSPP meets the requirements for a PTASP, including transit safety targets for the federally required measures. Providers were required to certify their initial PTASP and safety targets by July 20, 2021. Once the public transportation provider establishes safety targets it must make the targets available to MPOs to aid in the planning process. MPOs are not required to establish transit safety targets annually each time the transit provider establishes targets. Instead, MPO targets must be established when the MPO updates the LRTP (although it is recommended that MPOs reflect the current transit provider targets in their TIPs). When establishing transit safety targets, the MPO can either agree to program projects that will support the transit provider targets or establish its own separate regional transit safety targets for the MPO planning area. In addition, MetroPlan Orlando must reflect those targets in the MTP/LRTP and TIP updates.

The Transit Safety Targets were adopted by LYNX in October 2020 and progress toward these targets will be tracked in the future.

SunRail is not required to have a PTASP and therefore does not collect Transit Safety Measures at this time. The LYNX Transit Safety Targets are shown below. Like Vision Zero for vehicle fatalities, the transit fatality target is also zero.

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