A Scorecard for MassDOT

I keep seeing trial balloons for a gas tax hike. And I keep thinking they’ve got the process wrong.

MassDOT should be telling us how they are doing first before asking for money.

The 2009 reforms put a process in place to report consistently on key performance measures but MassDOT is only doing it in part, and only on a yearly basis. They’ve done a far better job of communicating tactical successes — innovative projects and reform-related events.

Without this strategic communication, MassDOT will struggle to make the public case that they are managing our assets and our money more wisely than in the past. When you’ve got Big Dig cost overruns and MBTA service failures as part of your brand equity, you can’t make that public case without a lot of hard, repetitive work.

To that end, they need to put in place some type of visually appealing, easily understood performance report card — then use it relentlessly to let people know what’s going on.

I respectfully submit my first crack at it below. Let me know what you think: What measures would you want? What have we missed? What would you add?

 

Click to enlarge.

And the work doesn’t stop there. Part Two comes on Friday.