Performance measurement system for assessing transportation sustainability and community livability

Sustainability and livability as concepts that indicate the capability of transportation systems to maintain social well-being have been widely accepted as critical principles to improve the quality of life and health in communities. This study introduced a geographic information system as the basis for a performance measurement system to assess the two goals from the standpoint of transportation systems. The city of Buffalo, New York, was used as the case study. Various data were collected, and 20 sustainability and livability related performance measures (PMs), including transportation attributes, land use measures, living condition indicators, and systemwide indexes, were developed. Analysis of the PMs raised several policy implications and led to some suggestions. Lessons and challenges from the PM development process are summarized to help other relevant initiatives. The PMs, the supporting database, the case study, and the findings produced by the research are expected to help a wide range of stakeholders, including policy makers, planners, and transportation engineers, to gain more insights into transportation-oriented sustainability and livability performance measurement.