AASHTO Journal - AASHTO Offers Advice for New USDOT Strategic Plan

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently provided recommendations to the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the agency’s effort to develop a Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

[Above photo by AASHTO]

“As a key partner with USDOT as part of the federal surface transportation program, AASHTO believes that USDOT’s objectives and strategies must recognize the unique and important role of state departments of transportation, provide the necessary flexibility to successfully implement the goals, and ensure proposed solutions are appropriate and within the purview of state DOTs,” AASHTO explained in a letter to the agency.

AASHTO previously detailed its vision for surface transportation reauthorization in an earlier letter to USDOT and outlined how those details can help form the “pillars” for USDOT’s next Strategic Plan.

First, AASHTO stressed that safety remains “priority number one” for every state and how that focal point is reflected in the “Centering Safety” emphasis areas established by Garrett Eucalitto, AASHTO’s 2024-2025 president and commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

To that end, AASHTO recommended that USDOT’s next Strategic Plan build upon federal formula funding and policies that allow states the flexibility to strategically target resources that maximize the return on safety outcomes.

“When we as a nation make significant investments in our transportation infrastructure, it generates a multi-decade return on that investment to all sectors of the economy in the form of improved productivity and quality of life,” AASHTO said in its letter.

“As the owners and operators of this nation’s Interstate Highway System and state highway network, state DOTs are aware of the important role these facilities play in the economic future of this country,” the organization noted. “USDOT’s next Strategic Plan should focus on how transportation investments demonstrate economic benefits through increased productivity, enhanced jobs and labor market accessibility, creation of new markets for businesses, and optimization of supply chain efficiency for freight movement.”

Specifically, AASHTO proposed that USDOT build its Strategic Plan around five key goals:

Adopt policy priorities that create a safe multimodal transportation system.
Recognize the need for flexibility in the implementation of transportation programs.
Seek transportation funding innovations.
Collaborate with partners to share information and efforts.
Create methods to better connect transportation research to policies and implementation.

AASHTO also strongly endorsed the need for a “data-driven framework” in its letter to help the USDOT measure progress toward the priorities of its new Strategic Plan. “AASHTO’s members regularly establish means and measures of tracking progress towards agency goals,” the organization said. “An example could be internal USDOT performance measures that focus on achieving various aspects of the strategic goal areas, identifying the data that would support calculation of the measures, and setting specific targets for implementation, tracking, and reporting.”