TRB XX-XXXX: Application and Findings: SWOT-based framework for evaluating transportation agencies' sustainability approaches

摘要

A national survey of State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) indicated that such agencies areengaged in a variety of activities to address sustainability issues associated with transportation planning,design, and operations. These activities range from piecemeal environmental practices like roadsidemowing policies to comprehensive planning frameworks. However, state DOTs in general do not havesufficient policies or practices in place to evaluate and prioritize investment options that will promoteenvironmental sustainability and sustainable development. For this research, a mixed-methods designemploying an expert panel and case studies of individual State DOTs was used to develop, test, andevaluate a strategic planning tool that can help DOTs evolve more sustainable practices. The selfassessmenttool was designed to guide agencies through identifying internal strengths and weaknesses intheir planning frameworks and organizational structure and culture, characterizing features of the externalenvironment as opportunities or threats, prioritizing areas for strategy development, and developingstrategies that link the internal and external environments. Such a tool can also be used to monitorprogress over time. The tool was tested by seven state DOTs, and three prominent themes were revealed:the importance of process in addition to content, integration between sustainability policies andimplementation, and internal communication of the need and nature of change. The results of this studyand of previous research suggest that DOTs' sustainability approaches are at various levels of maturity,and the siloing of sustainability within the organizations is characteristic of earlier maturity levels.