Common Standards for Reporting Financial Information for Transportation

Abstract

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the common standards concept, describe the benefits of coordinating transportation services accounting, and to identify challenges to coordination, followed by recommendations for action. The goal of this research project was to develop a consistent method for multiple agencies to estimate, report, track, and record transportation-related costs, specifically: 1. Develop a common set of important terms and financial concepts that will identify categories for the chart of accounts. Not all state and local agencies use the same definition to describe their transportation services. 2. Identify a common set of data categories that agencies use to measure their transportation services. Specific categories and terms will lead to development of the chart of accounts. 3. Identify a common set of non-financial data measures/evaluation criteria for participating agencies. Standards may be different between the state and local agencies and data collection and analysis have different results and significance. The criteria will contribute to the chart of accounts.