Accountability at a glance: California is harnessing the power of the Internet to provide transparency of management on a $3 billion program of transportation improvements

Public Roads, Sept-Oct, 2007 by Richard G. Chavez, Allan Kosup, Bart Desai, Donna Huey

Earning rules define how budget units can be earned based on progress. For example, such a rule could specify for a design project that a certain percentage of budget units may be earned only when a deliverable is submitted. The rules are designed to ensure that earned values remain objective and consistent throughout multiple projects.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Finally, earned percent complete comprises the amount of budget units earned based on the work completed to date divided by the total budget units. This figure typically is calculated at the project level each month and then summarized and attributed to the corridor and program levels for reporting purposes.

Information related to project scope, risk, and cost estimates is derived from various sources and integrated by means of a cost management system before inclusion in the Dashboard. Project managers and corridor directors provide information regarding trends, risks, progress, and other issues. Project cost estimates and changes are entered into the cost management system.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Using the pertinent budgetary and scheduling information, the Dashboard determines the status of the overall Early Action Program, the six corridors, their segments, and the phases of each segment, and assigns each element the appropriate color. Status is accorded based on the two basic elements of budget and schedule.

Essentially, the Dashboard determines a project's budgetary status by evaluating the percentage of the budget that has been expended at a given time versus the percentage of work conducted to that point. If the percentage of the budget expended is less than or within 10 percent of the percentage of work completed, the project's budgetary status is considered good, or green. If the percentage of the budget expended exceeds the percentage of work completed by 10 percent to 20 percent, the project's budgetary status is deemed cautious, or yellow. Finally, a project's budget is considered at risk, or red, if the percentage of the budget expended exceeds the percentage of work completed by more than 20 percent.

The Dashboard conducts a similar process to evaluate a project in terms of schedule. It compares a project's progress at a certain point to the baseline schedule that was developed at the outset and then denotes the current schedule status by employing the same percentages used to determine budget status.

One-Stop Shopping For Information

The Dashboard made its online debut in August 2006. That month, the Web site experienced 20,816 "hits," or pages viewed. In its first 7 months, the site had approximately 127,000 hits, for an average of 18,142 per month.

By providing regular updates on a project's budget and schedule, the Dashboard enables the public, elected officials, other representatives of SANDAG member governments, and the Independent Taxpayer Oversight Committee to track the progress of the overall Early Action Program and its various components. Until now, such information generally was unavailable in a readily accessible fashion. The intended beneficiaries of the transportation improvements--the public--could not easily access information on the status of the projects it is financing. However, the Dashboard enables taxpayers to remain informed about the TransNet Program. "We feel that we are giving the public more confidence in what we are doing," Haven says. "This creates a better, more trusting atmosphere."