NextGen Metrics for the Joint Planning and Development Office

Abstract

The Interagency Portfolio and System Analysis Division of the Joint Planning and Development Office has developed a number of metrics to assess the projected performance of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Metrics are currently being calculated for capacity and environment, two of the six goals established in the Department of Transportation’s 2004 Integrated National Plan for the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Metrics have also been posited but are not currently assessed for the four other goals: global leadership, safety, national defense, and security. The metrics for capacity and environment are based on projected performance of the National Airspace System (NAS), as evaluated by a suite of models and simulations that replicate operation of the NAS and its effects on the environment in terms of noise, local air quality, and climate. The NextGen goals and associated metrics show a high degree of correspondence with the 11 Key Performance Areas formulated by the International Civil Aeronautics Organization. The JPDO has also identified a set of stakeholder metrics, intended to reflect the impact of NextGen on its stakeholders and facilitate communication with them. These metrics include both monetized metrics, expressed in terms of the dollar value of benefits and costs, and nonmonetized metrics, as indicators of system performance. Issues that the JPDO metrics activity has addressed include selection of a representative point from the continuum of combinations of throughput and delay. The JPDO is also considering the value of calculating system efficiency metrics, and plans to continue to enhance alignment of its metrics with those of member agencies, develop target values, enhance stakeholder metrics, and support continued development of modeling and analysis tools. Challenges that remain include improved metrics for delay and predictability of system performance, as well as metrics for fundamental attributes such as robustness and flexibility.