Access for Performance

This paper urges that policy decisions be based on important and reliable performance measures. Robust measures that assess the performance of the transportation and land use dimensions of cities, however, are typically missing from such discussions - they typically focus on congestion and mobility. The heart of approach suggested herein lies concept of accessibility: the ability of people to reach the destinations that they need to visit in order to meet their needs. By focusing on accessibility - rather than congestion or mobility - this approach produces a more complete and meaningful picture of metropolitan transport and land use. We place accessibility in a position of prominence as a performance measure by (a) describing the use and measurement of accessibility for metropolitan areas, (b) identifying robust, concrete and practical issues about measurement of the concept, (c) and offering prescriptions for resolving measurement issues.