This report documents the results of a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) review of the agency's Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). The purpose of the comprehensive review was to assist FHWA in determining an appropriate future form and direction for this major FHWA data system. This report represents the culmination of several serial activities including: C the identification and assessment of the impacts of the HPMS on FHWA, its State and other governmental partners, and the many and varied HPMS customers; the results of an extensive outreach program that included a national HPMS workshop held in June 1997; and the subsequent assimilation of inputs from these activities into a set of proposals for the future form of the HPMS.

This synthesis report will be of interest to DOT administrators, supervisors, and staff, as well as to the consultants that work with them. Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) regional and local agency staffs might also find it informative. The synthesis was initiated in response to a recommendation made during the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) Reassessment, which was undertaken by the FHWA in 1997/1998 to expand data sharing and partnering more widely among states, MPOs, and local governments. It documents current arrangements among state DOTs, MPOs, and other local and regional agencies to partner in the collection and share in the use of HPMS data. Key elements examined include institutional arrangements, the use of data and data sharing, cost and resource requirements, technical capabilities/barriers, implementation processes, and data quality and capability, as well as successes, failures, and difficulties. Case studies of successful state and MPO partnerships are included.