What’s the score? Focus on the right things in transportation

When developing a new product, forming a business relationship with a new partner, investing in companies, or investing in a totally new government infrastructure plan, we should start with the end in mind, set a goal, and manage to success.

With all of the investments in transportation, logistics, and mobility (TLM), wouldn’t an environmentally clean, pleasant, affordable, convenient, fast, and safe transportation system be a meaningful outcome?

What end do we have in mind? What’s the goal? How do we manage to success?

 A wasted TV interview

The new transportation secretary was interviewed on TV a few days ago. Instead of being able to discuss the value of infrastructure investment, he had to spend his entire segment answering an interviewer’s question about how the investment amount changed slightly this week vs. last week. Trillions of dollars are being proposed and we talk about that? Really? What’s the goal and what’s the measurement?

Let’s be the global standard

As much is invested in TLM—by private investors; special purpose acquisition companies; transportation companies such as airlines; cities and states; and the federal government to the tune of, potentially, trillions—let’s think hard about a US TLM system that will set the new standard in transportation.

And let’s talk about how every new technology (such as air taxis), and every airport, airline, and train is contributing to this new standard.

Dread traveling again?

We’re all eager to connect again! But do you dread going back to planes, trains, subways, or just long commutes?

How do we measure the success of a trip, door to door? Shouldn’t the metrics include your experience being easy, worry free, on time, environmentally friendly, affordable, safe, and—dare I say—pleasant?

A lot of organizations are making money along your journey, but shouldn’t we measure how the various methods of traveling are contributing to producing a better experience?   

Let’s be clear from the start: this is hard stuff

Especially in aviation, I can point to many who have tried to oversimplify solutions and metrics only to walk into a wall—the reality of how things work.

Some have talked about simple solutions to our aviation programs, only to realize that their recommendations don’t consider the complexity of the system, the safety culture, or the many attempts that have failed.

Some talk about improving just one metric but come to realize it’s an easy metric to improve—and improving it impairs another metric, to the overall detriment of the system.

Working with and knowing global experts in air traffic, aviation optimization, and the like, I can tell you that what looks simple can be more complex than anyone would imagine.

However, when you combine expertise, data, artificial intelligence, respect for the system, and respect for safety and are willing to burrow in and work hard, clear answers (or “guard rails” as one reviewer called them) are available for these complex problems.

Let’s steer away from simple solutions and sound bites.

Learning from other government programs

We’ve seen billions wasted in programs when people didn’t start with the end in mind and hailed and rewarded activities and activity milestones versus results.

We’ve also witnessed good behavior.

One government program, NextGen—the FAA air traffic modernization program—identified, after a number of years of cooperation and the support of government leaders, airlines, airports, industry, labor, and community groups, the importance of focusing on outcomes and measurements. They collaborated and agreed on the important metrics.

So, what to measure? What’s the score?

Before you read on . . . what’s most important to you as you connect or travel from one place to another?

What should we measure and want to improve?

·         Shorter travel time?

·         Predictable travel time?

·         The cost of travel?

·         The CO2 emitted during your trip?

·         Safe travel (can you imagine every mode of transportation having the same safety standards and results as the US air traffic system)?

·         Convenience?

·         Scheduling (that matches your schedule versus conforming to someone else’s)?

It’s likely to be a combination of metrics. As an example, a former top air transportation leader used the term clean capacity as a possible measurement. What clean capacity implies is that we want to create capacity to seamlessly and quickly move between cities or into cities while measuring the environmental impact of those trips. Clean capacity measures two essential metrics: adding available capacity and, at the same time, environmental impact. Smart.

Perhaps the measurement will be a score—one that’s algorithmically weighted, perhaps by method of transportation, to combine all metrics to reflect what we think is important.

We can do better

Let’s have this important discussion.

Let’s set a goal, agree on metrics, and measure our success.

The outcomes will be worth it.