DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

   The Department of Transportation (DOT) helps ensure the safety and economic effectiveness of the roads, railways, pipelines, airways, and seaways upon which the nation’s economy depends.  Established in 1967, DOT sets federal transportation policy and works with state, local, and private sector partners to promote a safe, secure, efficient, and interconnected national transportation system.  DOT’s operating administrations have wide-ranging duties related to the operation and regulation of transportation.  They share a commitment to fulfill the Department’s national performance objectives of safety and mobility.  Late in 2002, the Congress passed and the President signed a bill transferring the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to the new Department of Homeland Security.  It will be a major task for DOT to complete this transfer in 2003.  The President's Budget proposals concerning those organizations are discussed in the Department of Homeland Security chapter. 

Overview

   DOT's five key performance goals—improve safety, increase mobility in support of the nation’s economy, protect the human and natural environment, achieve organizational excellence, and support the national security strategy—form the basis for the 2004 Budget request.

   Transportation safety is the Department’s top priority.  To support this effort, the budget proposes increases for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will increase their focus on their safety goals.  To increase mobility, the budget continues support for programs that improve the condition of the federal highway system, enhance the condition of the nation’s transit system, and increase air space capacity.  The Department also is undertaking several initiatives aimed at protecting the environment, including a FHWA partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce air pollution.   To achieve organizational excellence, the Department is redoubling its efforts to enhance program effectiveness and improve responsiveness to its customers. 

Improving Transportation Safety

   Because the human toll and economic cost of transportation accidents are massive, promoting public health and transportation safety is the first objective of all DOT agencies.  To achieve this objective, the Department works with communities to educate the public about safety requirements and establishes safety standards for transportation industries.  The budget proposes $12.7 billion for transportation safety programs to meet the Department’s safety mission.  In addition, as a “stretch goal,” the Secretary has established an overall Departmental benchmark to reduce highway deaths from 1.5 to 1.0 fatalities for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled by 2008. 

   Commercial aviation is the form of transportation with the fewest human lives lost per mile traveled, according to National Transportation Safety Board data.  The nation’s airspace system includes 15,238 air traffic controllers, 3,364 significant airports, and 393 air traffic control facilities.  The 2004 Budget supports FAA’s efforts to provide the safest possible system through additional investments in personnel and airspace safety technology to prevent runway incursions.  The budget seeks $14 million for 328 additional controllers and safety inspectors.  Since 1993, 37 runway safety systems have been installed at busy airports. These investments will contribute to FAA’s goal of reducing the air carrier fatal accident rate by 80 percent between 1996 and 2007.  

   In 2002, 42,116 lives were lost in traffic accidents.  The economic cost of motor vehicle crashes is estimated to be more than $230 billion annually.  Since 1992, the rate of traffic fatalities has fallen as the number of fatalities has remained relatively flat and the number of vehicle miles traveled on the nation’s roads has increased.  This reflects the successes of federal, state, and local safety and enforcement programs and the greater public awareness of safety issues.

   Within DOT, FMCSA and NHTSA are the two agencies focused primarily on surface transportation safety.  Created in 2000, FMCSA regulates the safety of the large truck industry and seeks to cut the number of highway deaths attributable to truck crashes.  The agency is committed to helping reduce fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled from 2.8 in 1996 to 1.6 in 2008.  FMCSA will concentrate on increasing the number of inspections at road-sides and other locations, improving the Commercial Driver Licensing program, and implementing a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) security program.  In 2004, $223 million is proposed to help states implement highway safety programs, and $224 million will support oversight of HAZMAT transportation, federal safety enforcement programs, and border safety inspections. 

   The Department will continue to concentrate its truck safety program on the southern border as the nation fulfills its commitment under the North American Free Trade Agreement to allow Mexican trucks to travel on U. S. highways.  In addition, the Department will begin to implement a New Entrant Program, in which every new commercial motor carrier company—Canadian, Mexican, or American—that applies to operate within the United States will be subjected to a safety audit in the first 18 months of operation before it receives a permanent safety decal.  Studies show that new entrants are less likely to comply with safety regulations and are more likely to be involved in crashes than well-established motor carriers.  Consequently, conducting new entrant safety inspections is an important step toward reducing truck-related accident fatalities and increasing highway safety.

   To help reduce highway fatalities and injuries, NHTSA is striving to increase seat belt usage from 69 percent in 1997 to 79 percent in 2004 and to lower the alcohol-related highway fatality rate from .63 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled to .51 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2004.  In support of these goals, the budget supplies $218 million for safety operations and research programs, including $10 million for a crash causation study.  It provides another $447 million for grants to states for targeted highway safety programs to counter drugged and drunk driving and to enforce safety belt use.

   FHWA works to improve highway safety by promoting increased use of road-side safety features and conducting research into improved road design.  Likewise, FRA focuses on safety and security of the national rail system, primarily through inspectors who check the condition of the rail infrastructure.  In light of potential new risks, the budget recommends funds for new staff to inspect railways associated with the transportation of hazardous materials.

   Currently, a network of two million miles of pipelines transports natural gas to nearly 60 million residential and commercial customers in the United States.  The Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) operates the Department's national regulatory program to assure the safe transportation of natural gas, petroleum, and other hazardous materials by pipeline.  In 2004, RSPA will study ways to improve the performance of controllers who monitor pipeline operations.  

Improving Transportation Mobility

   DOT strives to improve mobility within the United States, recognizing that a safe, efficient transportation infrastructure is a key national asset crucial to the nation’s economy and defense.

   Over the last 20 years, travel and congestion have increased for all modes of transportation.  In response, the Department has targeted alleviating congestion on the roads and in the air.  To address congestion—as well as enhance infrastructure conditions—the Department is focusing on smart technology and system improvements.  Initiatives supported in this budget include expanding “intelligent” highway system technology and modernization of the airspace control system.  Total requested spending on this goal is $37.7 billion in 2004. 

   After the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, demand for air travel dropped significantly, but FAA is forecasting a gradual recovery.  FAA is working on airspace system improvements to mitigate the effects of flying in bad weather and use the air space more efficiently, thus helping speed planes to their destinations.  The budget requests $1,952 million for investments in air traffic modernization equipment that will allow air traffic controllers to steer planes onto the quickest flight paths and allow faster landings in poor weather.  Past FAA investments in new equipment have successfully increased air space capacity.

   FAA also looks to speed aircraft takeoff and landings by building additional runways with funding from the Grants-In-Aid program.  In 2003, new runways will become operational at Denver, Miami, Houston, and Orlando. The aim is to increase daily arrival capacity at the nation’s airports to 47,000 landings per day by the end of 2004.

   The Grants-In-Aid for Airports program currently provides funding to airports for infrastructure projects.  Additional runways, improved technology and a decline in air traffic activity have reduced flight delays.  In 2002, the annual on-time arrival rate was 82 percent—compared to 75 percent in recent years.  These improvements, coupled with the findings of a Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) analysis, leads to a recommendation that infrastructure funding be focused on major capacity, safety and noise mitigation projects that provide the greatest benefits to the national system, while targeting airports with significant needs.

   Improving the condition of highways and bridges is critical to transportation mobility.  The federally supported National Highway System (NHS) comprises the most important national routes for trade and commerce.  The system includes all interstates and over 84 percent of other principal arterials.  While it accounts for only 4.1 percent of total road mileage in the United States, it handles 44.3 percent of total vehicle miles traveled.  Consequently, the condition of the NHS significantly impacts congestion, wear-and-tear on vehicles, the comfort of travelers, and fuel consumption.  In the past decade, highway and bridge conditions have steadily improved.  Of all vehicle miles traveled on the NHS, 92 percent in 2002 were on pavements with acceptable ride quality.

   To continue improving the condition of highways and bridges, the 2004 Budget requests resources to allow greater use of innovative pavement technologies and high performance bridge materials.  The budget also requests funding for increased use of Transportation Asset Management (TAM) conceptsand practices.  TAM is a strategic approach to managing and investing in transportation infrastructure that bases spending decisions on performance goals and economic and engineering considerations. 

   To limit the growth rate of congestion, the budget proposes funding for a variety of measures that will address traffic congestion in critical areas, including carpool projects, operational enhancements on highways and bridges, improved incident management, and implementation of smart work zone technologies, such as traffic monitoring.  In addition, the budget requests funding for traffic analysis and modeling and long-term research in operations and intelligent transportation systems.  The budget also targets funds to begin building a more efficient freight transportation system.

   Communities are increasingly incorporating transit—rapid bus, commuter rail and intercity-bus—into their transportation plans in an effort to reduce congestion.  Overall transit passenger miles traveled increased by 32 percent since 1980.  The 2004 Budget supports transit programs that target resources to the most cost-effective and innovative projects for meeting communities’ needs.  The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is also instituting a series of improvements in its oversight and management of transit projects.

Reordering Intercity Passenger Rail Service

   The Congress created the National Rail Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in 1971 as a for-profit corporation providing a national rail passenger system.  In 1997, the Congress reaffirmed its intent that Amtrak become self-supporting with enactment of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act, which required Amtrak to operate without federal subsidy by 2003.  Nevertheless, it has never broken even financially and has grown increasingly dependent on government aid.  Since 1971, American taxpayers have given Amtrak more than $24 billion.  Without fundamental reform, Amtrak will not function without continued substantial subsidies. 

   In the past year, after the loss of access to private credit, Amtrak was nearly forced to suspend operations as it ran out of cash.  Only a special loan from the federal government and a supplemental appropriation averted a shutdown.

   Despite Amtrak’s financial difficulties, in a few areas of the country Amtrak is a significant factor in intercity travel.  In June 2002, Secretary Mineta set out the Administration’s principles for reforming Amtrak, including:

• Create a system driven by sound economics;

• Require that Amtrak transition to a pure operating company;

• Introduce competition to provide higher quality rail service at reasonable prices;

• Establish a long-term partnership between states and the federal government to support intercity passenger rail service; and

• Create an effective public-private partnership, after a reasonable transition, to manage the capital assets of the Northeast Corridor.

   Amtrak reform can wait no longer.  The 2004 Budget follows through on these ideas by proposing to eliminate underused and inefficient long-distance train routes and reducing overhead operations where other options could perform them more efficiently.  To facilitate these changes, the budget proposes $900 million to support operations, expand Amtrak’s capital and infrastructure maintenance programs, and begin to address structural reform through measures the Administration believes will improve Amtrak’s future viability.  In an effort to ensure that states play a major role in determining the route structure of a national passenger rail system, the Administration will encourage states to contribute to those routes they believe are critical to their transportation needs. 

Protecting the Human and Natural Environment

   Transportation contributes ozone, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter to the atmosphere.  Approximately two-thirds of transportation-related emissions of those pollutants originate from on-road motor vehicles.  Still, total on-road mobile source emissions declined from 87 million tons in 1988 to 64 million tons in 1999, which marks a 28-percent improvement in a little more than a decade.  To further curb emissions, the 2004 Budget seeks resources to implement air quality standards and to offer technical assistance to communities working with EPA.  The budget also proposes funding to continue the success of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program, which promotes transportation projects that help reduce emissions.

Achieving Organizational Excellence 

   With more than 59,000 employees and hundreds of programs, DOT faces significant challenges regarding customer satisfaction, employee effectiveness, and organizational performance and productivity.  The Department plans to focus on improving its oversight of highway projects funded with federal-aid highway resources.  Until now, FHWA staff have primarily provided technical assistance to states, rather than ensuring states have well-managed highway programs and cost-effective and justified projects.  Over the last six years, combined federal, state, and local investment in highways and transit systems has exceeded $500 billion, meaning a one-percent increase in efficiency could have saved $5 billion.  FHWA will provide more direct oversight of those projects over $1 billion and hold states more accountable for delivering highway projects on time and within budget. 

Performance Evaluation of Select Programs

   For further details on these programs, please see the DOT chapter in the Performance and Management Assessments volume.

Program Reauthorization

   Both the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21^st Century (AIR-21) and Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) expire at the end of 2003.  These laws authorize most of DOT’s major program activities, including highway system funding, FTA, and FAA.  The proposals contained in the 2004 Budget form the foundation of the Administration’s principles and priorities for reauthorizing these programs.  The Administration expects to provide full recommendations for reauthorization of highway, transit, and aviation programs early in 2003, which will build on the progress achieved in the expiring laws.  

   The President's Budget proposals will extend the funding approach of TEA-21 that links highway spending to Highway Account Trust Fund receipts.  The budget also directs all revenue from gasohol taxes to the Highway Trust Fund (previously, 2.5 cents per gallon in gasohol taxes were diverted to general revenues).  This proposal adds approximately $600 million annually to Trust Fund receipts available for highway spending.  In addition to these sums, the Administration proposes a new highway infrastructure performance and maintenance initiative funded at $1 billion per year for six years.  This initiative would be based on the Surface Transportation Program funding formula and targeted to “ready-to-go” highway projects that address traffic congestion and improve infrastructure condition.  States would be required to commit funds in the first half of each fiscal year.  Failure to obligate funds quickly would trigger a reallocation of these funds among states. 

   Other highlights of the highway reauthorization proposal include:

• Preserving broad state and local funding flexibility that allows grantees to target funds to specific areas of concern;

• Continuing efforts to streamline project approval and implementation, including a more efficient environmental review process;

• Expanding the capacity and efficiency of the freight transportation system through improved intermodal linkages and expanded innovative finance tools;

• Improving federal oversight by requiring financial and project management plans for major highway projects with a total estimated cost over $1 billion; and

• Streamlining grant requirements to reduce the paperwork burden and increase state and local flexibility.

Update on the President’s Management Agenda

   More details on DOT's implementation of the President’s Management Agenda can be found in the Performance and Management Assessments volume.