Long-Term Pavement Performance Committee Letter Report: June 21, 2010

On June 21, 2010, TRB’s Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Committee sent its 26th letter report to Victor M. Mendez, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The committee commends the FHWA’s LTPP team for its implementation and consideration of past committee recommendations, and makes several new recommendations designed to continue to enhance the value of the LTPP program to its stakeholders.

The LTPP committee recommends that traffic data elements should be tagged to indicate to users the quality of those elements, that internet access to the LTPP database be established, that the FHWA establish a national pavement performance database, and that collection of pavement performance data at its in-service test sites continue to be a top-priority goal for the LTPP program. The committee also suggested that the LTPP team regularly provide the AASHTO with briefings, written materials, and face-to-face discussions on the status of the program, and seek its members’ feedback on how LTPP products can be tailored to maximize their utility to the states. In addition, the committee recommended that the LTPP team take steps to improve attendance at the LTPP State Coordinators Meeting, and that it examine the feasibility and productivity of holding mid-year "webinars" to seek and receive feedback from the state coordinators on their use of LTPP products and need for new products.