Streamlining Compliance Criteria and Preemptively Identifying Slowdowns for Hastened Project Delivery – Lessons from Efficient Agencies
Transportation agencies and decision-makers increasingly prioritize timely project delivery, including shorter durations between funding allocation and construction. This emphasis is reflected in a growing focus on schedule performance and transparent communication of project timelines. Stakeholder expectations—including those of elected officials and the public—underscore the importance of clearly understanding and managing factors that influence project schedules. Quantitative, project-level data are essential for identifying patterns of delay, informing process improvements, and supporting the development of realistic and reliable schedules. With robust data, departments of transportation (DOTs) can more effectively assess project readiness, using performance-informed metrics to guide decision-making. In addition, information on the effectiveness of mitigation strategies—particularly measured reductions in delay duration—can help agencies prioritize resources and apply approaches that offer the greatest benefit. State DOTs have developed a strong understanding of common sources of delay in areas such as environmental review and permitting. However, the availability of quantitative, project-level data for other types of delays remains limited. In particular, agencies may not consistently have data on the typical schedule impacts associated with specific issues or the relative effectiveness of different mitigation strategies. While existing research often identifies causes of delay, it less frequently quantifies their schedule impacts—especially for complex projects—or estimates potential time savings associated with mitigation measures. This limits agencies' ability to take a comprehensive, data-driven approach to comparing delay drivers, identifying process efficiencies, and evaluating tradeoffs between mitigation benefits and costs. This scan will identify and examine organizations that have developed effective procedures to: (1) Identify measurable sources of delay, (2) Collect project-level quantitative data on the schedule impacts of those delays, and (3) Apply mitigation strategies that support recovery of schedule time. The resulting observations will provide practical, transferable lessons to support agencies in managing project development schedules and improving overall program efficiency. Key factors to be investigated include: Identification of measurable delay issues, Average and range of delay duration, by issue and project type, Mitigation strategies developed to address specific delay types, Average and range of time savings associated with mitigation, by issue and project type, and Approaches for applying these metrics to develop more reliable schedules for future projects.
- Record URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Proposed
- Funding: $250,000.00
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Contract Numbers:
Project 20-68, Scan 27-01
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Sponsor Organizations:
National Cooperative Highway Research Program
Transportation Research Board
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
444 North Capitol Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Irvin, Deborah
- Start Date: 20260713
- Expected Completion Date: 0
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Construction scheduling; Lessons learned; Project delivery; State departments of transportation
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Highways; Planning and Forecasting;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01992221
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
- Contract Numbers: Project 20-68, Scan 27-01
- Files: TRB, RIP
- Created Date: Jun 10 2026 11:02AM