Linking Public and Private Performance Measurement

Transportation planning and public policy can have profound effects on private-sector performance through investment policy, financing arrangements, tax policy, infrastructure improvement, and the like. However, with increasingly competitive and global markets, transportation public policy and planning should be based on market requirements for specific transportation capabilities and performance. On one level, deregulation and global competitiveness require cooperation and collaboration among all public and private policy actors and planners so that they all “row in the same direction.” On another level, deregulation and global competitiveness require that governmental transportation policy be market-driven, stressing capabilities and performance that are deemed most important by the private sector. The relative importance and availability of performance measures and capabilities are examined in three global regions: North America, Europe, and the Pacific Basin. The three regions are in remarkable agreement as to which performance capabilities are most important to a firm’s success. Transportation dependability and customer service are ranked at the top; low logistics cost and delivery flexibility are in the middle; and surprisingly, delivery speed is at the bottom. These findings have important implications for transportation public policy and planning in terms of linking policy with private-sector performance measurement. For example, it appears that transportation public policy and plans should stress reliability over speed in terms of setting priorities. Additional findings and recommendations for transportation planning, policy formulation, and data availability are discussed.