DOT’s Administrations Conduct and Have Methods to Coordinate Similar Activities

		DOT’s Administrations Conduct Similar Activities That Generally Have Different Goals, Recipients, Requirements, or Funding Sources

DOT’s administrations have similar missions and responsibilities and,  therefore, perform similar activities related to helping the Department  meet its overall mission of ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and  convenient transportation system. Further, DOT  carries out a number of different project-grant and credit programs  specified in statute with different requirements and conducts a number of  programs that receive funding from different sources such as the HTF,  the AATF, and general appropriations. Experts Suggested Areas Where DOT Could Make Improvements without Organizational Changes to More Efficiently and Effectively Carry Out Its Missions

According to the experts in transportation and organizational change we  met with, DOT could make operational improvements, but does not need  to implement organizational changes to efficiently and effectively carry out  its missions. Expert opinion  “…there are definitely some operations that  could be improved… there are opportunities  for greater collaboration… especially in areas  that are clearly intermodal or multi-modal,  some form of… councils or other operating  bodies that work across the modes… seems  like an easy, maybe even a non-legislative  sort of a fix that could really make a difference  in certain areas.”
Collaboration and coordination: Efforts to support transportation  projects and address concerns—such as driver or operator fatigue—often  benefit from collaboration among DOT modal administrations, other  federal agencies, state and local stakeholders, and private industry. For example, experts discussed several of DOT’s ongoing internal  collaborative groups and noted that some groups could have been more  effective if they consistently included senior-level officials to provide  needed leadership and decision-making authority. Experts also discussed opportunities for DOT to improve how it  coordinates externally with state and local governments and other federal  agencies. DOT officials we spoke with said a variety of methods  are used to coordinate its activities with state and local agencies to help  achieve DOT’s missions, including the use of standard processes for  developing regulations and approving infrastructure projects. Experts also discussed the need to focus on prioritizing the  data DOT collects to ensure they are of high quality and can be used to  answer specific transportation-related questions. According to the experts we  spoke with, DOT could reduce barriers and challenges facing state and  local governments in the project delivery processes (e.g., funding,  financing, and environmental review) without organizational changes. For  example, experts frequently mentioned that DOT is falling behind the  private sector’s need for research and specific regulations for  autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation systems. While DOT officials noted ongoing initiatives within its modal  administrations intended to address challenges in the five areas identified  by experts, they agreed that more could be done but did not identify plans  to conduct a department-wide review in these areas. The current  administration, however, recently released an Executive Order and the  Budget Blueprint indicating that federal agencies, including DOT, are  expected to continue to assess their ability to efficiently and effectively  meet their missions. Undertaking a department-wide review of the areas experts  identified, particularly as they relate across the modal administrations,  provides an opportunity for DOT to assess how it can more effectively  achieve its missions and how best to position the department to  proactively address the challenges it faces. Recommendations for Executive Action

To leverage and build upon the ongoing efforts within individual DOT  modal administrations and to address concerns raised by experts  regarding collaboration and coordination, data quality and analytics,  regulation development, project delivery processes, and addressing  emerging issues, we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation: (1)  conduct a department-wide review of DOT’s current efforts to address  these concerns; and (2) develop an action plan with specific steps to  implement improvements, as identified, in these areas. GAO staff who made key contributions to this  report are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report addresses the following objectives: (1) what activities multiple  Department of Transportation (DOT) modal administrations perform to  fulfill their missions and how, if at all, DOT coordinates these activities,  and (2) according to experts, what, if any, organizational changes or  operational changes could enable DOT to more efficiently and effectively  carry out its missions. To collect expert views on organizational or other changes that could  enable DOT to more efficiently and effectively carry out its missions, in  September 2016, with the assistance of the National Academies of  Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies), we  convened a one and a half day GAO meeting with 18 experts. Participants were identified and recommended by the National  Academies and approved by us using several criteria, including  experience with multiple modes of transportation and DOT  administrations, and expertise in organizational change, among others. Data Quality and Analytics

GAO. Regulation Development

GAO. Commercial Space: FAA Should Examine How to Appropriately  Regulate Space Support Vehicles. GAO. Addressing Emerging Issues

GAO.
Why GAO Did This Study

DOT was established over 50 years ago, in part, to build, maintain, and oversee a vast national transportation system. Millions of Americans rely on this system every day to travel and receive goods and services. DOT is organized into nine modal administrations that are generally responsible for activities related to specific transportation modes, such as air, rail, public transit, and highways.
GAO was asked to examine how well DOT's organizational structure enables DOT to address today's transportation challenges. This report addresses (1) activities performed by multiple DOT administrations to fulfill their missions and how, if at all, DOT coordinates these activities, and (2) expert opinions on what, if any, organizational or operational changes could enable DOT to more efficiently and effectively carry out its missions. GAO reviewed documentation on DOT's missions, interviewed DOT officials, and worked with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a meeting with transportation and organizational-change experts. Experts were selected for their experience working with multiple modes of transportation and expertise in organizational change, among other factors.

What GAO Found

The United States Department of Transportation's (DOT) nine modal administrations conduct a range of similar activities that are generally intended: (1) to achieve different goals (e.g., to protect consumers or improve motor vehicle efficiency); (2) to serve different recipients (e.g., airlines, railroads); or (3) to meet different requirements (e.g., grant and credit programs specified in statute). DOT has numerous efforts to coordinate similar activities across administrations, such as formal coordinating bodies that bring together staff from multiple modes on a variety of topics. DOT also has processes designed to coordinate regulations' development and to approve infrastructure projects.
Experts told GAO that DOT could make operational improvements but does not need to implement organizational changes, to help efficiently and effectively carry out its missions. Experts identified five areas:
Collaboration and coordination: Additional efforts to collaborate among the nine modal administrations, state and local governments, and other federal agencies would better support the development of transportation projects. For example, experts stated DOT could improve the effectiveness of internal collaborative groups by including senior-level officials who could provide leadership and have the authority to make decisions.
Data quality and analytics: Prioritizing which data to collect and improving analytic capabilities could help DOT ensure data are effectively used. Experts stated DOT could do a better job identifying and improving data quality to answer specific, transportation-related questions.
Regulation development: Improving how regulations are developed could help DOT ensure the agency's priorities are addressed and coordinated among all stakeholders. Experts stated that DOT could improve the quality and timeliness of its regulations by seeking earlier input from stakeholders.
Project delivery processes: Streamlining and making the project delivery processes more consistent across modal administrations could reduce barriers and challenges for state and local governments. For example, experts suggested creating a central position to help state and local governments navigate the environmental review process.
Addressing emerging issues: Proactively focusing on how to address technological advancements (e.g., autonomous vehicles) and other emerging issues (e.g., safely transporting domestic oil and gas) could help DOT achieve its missions more efficiently and effectively. For example, experts were concerned that DOT was falling behind the private sector's need for research and specific regulations for autonomous vehicles.
DOT officials agreed improvements are needed across DOT within the areas identified by experts. However, DOT did not identify plans to conduct a department-wide review. The administration recently released documents requiring federal agencies, including DOT, to assess their ability to efficiently and effectively meet their missions. In addition, federal internal control standards require agencies to assess and, typically, develop an action plan to determine whether their policies are effective. Such an assessment could help DOT to improve how it implements programs across all of its modal administrations.

What GAO Recommends

DOT should conduct a department-wide review of its current efforts to address issues in the areas experts identified for improvement and develop an action plan to implement improvements, as identified, in these areas. DOT concurred with these recommendations and cited new initiatives to improve the department.