States are to report detailed  highway data for sampled highway sections. FHWA Developed the HERS-ST Model as an Investment Analysis Tool for Highway Planning at the State Level

After its positive experience with the national-level HERS model and the  model’s successful adaptation in Oregon and Indiana, FHWA began to  formally develop HERS-ST in 1999. FHWA officials believe that states could use  the HERS-ST model to perform benefit-cost analysis on highway  improvements and to forecast the future condition and performance of  state highway systems. FHWA Provided HERS- ST to States Through a Pilot Project

FHWA distributed the prototype HERS-ST model software to 20 states  volunteering to participate in its pilot project, which is intended to gauge  interest in the model and to further identify potential uses for and revisions  to it. FHWA Plans to Upgrade HERS-ST

According to FHWA officials, if the pilot participants find the HERS  concept attractive, FHWA will, as appropriate, provide for revising the  HERS-ST model so that it will benefit from upgrades to the national-level  version of the model. FHWA officials agreed that a menu-driven program  would make the model easier for states to use. Officials from  four of the states we spoke with reported that they collect both roughness  index data and serviceability rating data. Scope and Methodology

To determine why the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal  Highway Administration (FHWA) developed a state-level version of the  Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) computer model and  how FHWA expects that states will use the model, we first reviewed our  work and resulting June 2000 report on the strengths, limitations, and uses  of the national HERS model.
What GAO Found

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed the state-level version of the Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS-ST) model as an investment-analysis tool for highway planning at the state level. FHWA officials believe that some state departments of transportation will find the analysis that the HERS-ST model produces useful because it demonstrates the potential results of highway investment decisions from an economic point of view. FHWA is conducting a pilot project for its prototype HERS-ST model with states that volunteered to test the model. FHWA distributed to these states HERS-ST software, technical manuals, and sets of state highway data with which to run the model. FHWA then provided an overall orientation and technical training and addressed states' questions during a workshop. Officials from a sample of the states planning to participate reported that they are primarily interested in taking advantage of the model's use of benefit-cost analysis to assess alternative highway improvements. If the pilot project shows that states view the HERS-ST model as a useful tool, FHWA expects to upgrade the model for future users. In doing so, it would consider both enhancements that have already been planned for the national-level HESR model and changes targeted specifically to HERS-ST. Changes to improve the HESR-ST model's usefulness to states include converting the model to a menu-driven system to improve its ease of use or revising the model's data input format so that it matches FHWA's current state highway data reporting requirements.