Wisconsin Department of Transportation - MAPSS Performance Improvement Program - Frequently Asked Questions
What is MAPSS?
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) MAPSS Performance Improvement Program is an ongoing initiative focused on setting performance measures, gathering relevant data, and communicating the Department’s progress throughout these areas to the public. The MAPSS Program is designed to guide the WisDOT in achieving its mission: "to provide leadership in the development and operation of a safe and efficient transportation system." To accomplish this, the MAPSS Program publishes a quarterly report explaining each performance measure’s most recent data along with WisDOT's detailed improvement efforts.
When was MAPSS started?
The Department’s MAPSS Performance Improvement program was first implemented in December 2011. You can find the last six years of MAPSS reports in the MAPSS Archive.
Why measure performance?
WisDOT is committed to support transparency and accountability for results. The MAPSS program utilizes Department-wide performance measures as powerful tools to inform both the general public as well as policymakers about WisDOT’s overall progress. By regularly reviewing these performance measures, the Department strives to maintain a results-driven environment to maximize the performance of our transportation system and WisDOT as a whole.
What kind of performance measures does WisDOT track?
The Department selects measures that are of greatest interest to the public and which directly relate to WisDOT’s performance in the five MAPSS Core Goal areas. These measures represent the overall performance of Wisconsin’s transportation system and are published in the MAPSS Report and MAPSS Scorecard documents every quarter. In addition to our external measures, WisDOT also tracks internal operational measures to maximize the Department’s effectiveness and efficiency across all business areas.
When are performance measures updated?
Each performance measure is updated on a quarterly, semiannual, annual, or biennial basis, depending on the availability of data and its pertinent program cycles. These measures are captured in our MAPPS Report and MAPSS Scorecard, which are published once per quarter, usually released in February, March, August, and November of each year.
What does the 'Goal Met?' section mean?
What does the 'Performance Trend' section mean?
All performance measures have a 'Performance Trend' or simply 'Trend' field which signifies how a measure has been performing over time. To determine the trend, the MAPSS program analyzes six previous reporting periods of data for each measure and applies ½ standard deviation to that data series. Depending on the results of this calculation, a measure can be trending either 'Favorably', 'Holding', or 'Unfavorably'. These values are re-calculated every time a measure is updated.
Terminology
Core Goals: Mobility, Accountability, Preservation, Safety, and Service. These are the primary focus areas for WisDOT’s MAPSS performance improvement program, which together form the 'MAPSS' acronym. Each Core Goal contains several performance measures associated with that category.
Divisions: Within the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) there are six divisions. All divisions play a role in collecting, analyzing, summarizing, and/or reporting MAPSS data:
Goal (Goal Met): Also referred to as 'target', or 'key performance indicator'. The goal represents what the objective for that metric is. It is a quantifiable threshold that defines how well a measure must perform to meet expectations and may be based on mandates, benchmarks, or pre-existing standards. The MAPSS program uses a blue checkmark on the Scorecard and measure webpages to indicate that a performance measure has met its goal for its latest reporting cycle.
Performance Measure: A metric used by WisDOT to evaluate how well the Department is doing in specific areas across all divisions. Each performance measure has one or more associated goals which define what the expected results should be for that measure. Performance measures which meet their goal for the latest reporting period are marked by a blue checkmark on the scorecard and measure webpage.
Reporting Period: This section indicates the cycle in which the data for a measure is gathered, as well as when that measure was last reported. For example, the ‘Delay’ measure is reported annually, however the data is gathered from December through November of the next year.
Trending Arrow (Trend): An indicator of how well a measure is doing when compared to its previous data point. The trending arrow determines whether there was a statistically significant change from the last time that measure was reported. Please note that a performance measure’s trending arrow is evaluated separately from its goal. A measure can trend in one of the following ways: