Step 2: Goals & Objectives - Performance Standards

Performance Standards

Please note: Only cities and counties in metropolitan areas and Metro are required to follow this performance standards/targets setting process.

For cities and counties in metropolitan areas and Metro, OAR 660-012-0215 establishes requirements for transportation performance standards that cities and counties use to review comprehensive plan and land use regulation amendments provided in OAR 660-012-0060. If a city or county requires applicants to analyze transportation impacts as part of a development review in acknowledged local land use regulations, then that review shall include evaluation of the transportation impacts using the performance standards established in OAR 660-012-0215. This also applies to transportation performance standards that Metro uses to review functional plan amendments as provided in OAR 660-012-0060.

OAR 660-012-0215(3) requires cities and counties within metropolitan areas and Metro to adopt at least two local transportation performance standards that collectively evaluate at least two of the following objectives for the transportation system, for any or all modes of transportation:

• Reducing climate pollution – creating feasible transportation options or otherwise incorporating roadway improvements or reducing driving in a way that reduces carbon emissions
  
• Equity – consideration for existing or proposed transportation-related disparities and barriers experienced by historically marginalized communities
• Safety – providing a transportations system that that people feel comfortable using and reduces injuries and fatalities 
• Network connectivity – modal networks that provide route options to users and minimize out-of-direction travel
• Accessibility – the ease of reaching (and interacting with) destinations or activities distributed in space
• Efficiency - the maximization of transportation services at the lowest possible cost
• Reliability - dependably provides users with a consistent range of predictable travel times
• Mobility - the ability to move freely and easily.

At least one performance standard must support increasing transportation options and avoiding principal reliance on the automobile. Collectively, the performance standards must also support achieving the performance targets discussed above. In addition to local governments, ODOT must also adopt at least two performance standards for their facilities within metropolitan areas.

Elements of a Performance Standard

Cities, counties, ODOT, and Metro shall establish the transportation performance standards to include these elements:

• Characteristics of the transportation system that will be measured, estimated, or projected, and the methods to calculate their performance.
• Thresholds to determine whether the measured, estimated, or projected performance meets the performance standard. Thresholds may vary by facility type, location, or other factors. Thresholds shall be set at the end of the planning period, time of development, or another time. Thresholds are key to establishing a performance standard. Without them, it is only a metric.
• Findings for how the performance standard supports meeting the targets for performance measures set as provided in OAR 660-012-0910 (see Performance Measures for Reporting for more information).

Potential Performance Standards

The following table shows potential performance standards that are included in a toolkit in ODOT's Analysis Procedures Manual to help jurisdictions select performance standards to meet the requirements in rule 0215. Cities and counties may adopt performance standards not included in the toolkit. Those in the toolkit have been identified based on their ability to document incremental changes and their overall flexibility, ease of application and potential data availability. The table also identifies the OAR 660-012-0215(3) objectives that the potential performance standards could have a primary impact upon (the two adopted performance standards must collectively address two or more of these) and which potential performance standards would support increasing transportation options and avoiding principal reliance on the automobile (at least one must meet this criteria). Additional information on each of these potential performance standards is included in ODOT's Analysis Procedures Manual.