Integrating Statewide Planning and Programming: A Principle-Based Approach

Initiatives that were begun at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) during the early to mid-1990s—decentralization of decision making, completion of a statewide transportation policy plan, and integration of performance measures into operations—have created conditions that make performance-based planning possible. Mn/DOT has adopted the philosophy of performance-based planning as the method to integrate planning and programming. Mn/DOT’s planning and programming process will be used to develop District Long-Range Plans and to produce the next update of the Statewide Transportation Plan. Performance measures and performance targets, which were developed for the outcomes of safety, quality of ride, condition of infrastructure, and basic levels of service, will be used to develop the district plans. Economic efficiency will be evaluated through the use of benefit-cost analysis for expansion projects. Values of Minnesota’s citizens will be considered through customer input. Two futures will be developed for the district plans. Future 1 will be constrained not by available funding but rather by the three investment principles of system performance, economic efficiency, and values of Minnesota’s citizens. Future 2 will be fiscally constrained and based on a 20-year financial forecast. It will be used to develop the State Transportation Improvement Program to link the planning process to the development of a program. Principle-Based Future 1 will be compared with Fiscally Constrained Future 2 to develop unmet needs. The difference will represent needs derived from a sound, analytical planning process. Results from the district plans will be incorporated into the next Statewide Transportation Plan.