	Background

		FTR Amendments and GSA Travel Bulletins

To help federal agencies manage their respective travel programs and  achieve travel cost savings, GSA issues and revises the FTR. According  to the FTR website, GSA promulgates the FTR to: (1) interpret statutory  and other policy requirements in a manner that balances the need to  ensure that official travel is conducted responsibly with the need to  minimize administrative costs, and (2) clearly communicate the resulting  requirements to federal agencies and employees. In 2015, GSA  also established the Senior Travel Official Council to assist in the  administration’s efforts to promote efficient spending. Cost-Saving Efforts at Selected Agencies Generally Aligned with Regulations and Guidance

		Selected Agencies Already Had Travel Policies in Place Prior to the Issuance of Regulations or Guidance

Officials at each of the six selected agencies stated that, while their  respective agencies pursued a wide range of cost-saving efforts to  address the GSA cost-saving provisions, all of them had policies in place  that addressed these provisions prior to GSA issuance of either an  amendment or travel bulletin. However, because the bulletins served to reinforce  existing policy, these actions resulted in these agencies’ officials taking  further actions—either developing new travel policy or issuing a  memorandum to staff reminding them of existing agency travel policy—to  highlight the policy. This was a cost- saving effort that the agency had not pursued prior to the amendment. Selected Agencies Advised and Reminded Employees to Continue Following the FTR in a Variety of Additional Ways

Officials at five of the six selected agencies described a few cases where  their respective agencies took no specific policy action, but either: 1)  advised employees to follow the FTR; 2) asked individual components to  create unique policies that ensured FTR compliance; or 3) provided  approving officials with the discretion to oversee employees’ compliance  with the FTR as appropriate, and determine whether or how to adopt  promising practices from the GSA travel bulletins. The Senior Travel Official Council Encouraged Cost- Saving Efforts among the Agencies, but More Information Sharing Needed

The Senior Travel Official Council (STOC) brings travel officials from all  federal agencies together to share information and best practices to  further cost-saving efforts. Such practices could help agencies to develop and  implement cost-saving efforts, and quantify those efforts when possible. Most Efforts to Reduce Agency Travel-Related Spending Could Not Be Quantified

Only four cost-saving efforts at two of the selected agencies—DOJ and  DOD—could be quantified. Travel Data System Limitations Hinder Agencies’ Ability to Identify Cost Savings

According to officials at five of the six selected agencies, a number of  limitations in the travel data system designed by GSA and maintained by  the agencies affected their ability to identify cost savings related to  implementation of cost-saving provisions in FTR amendments and GSA  travel bulletins. GSA officials stated that while most agencies have the  capability via ETS2 to track, monitor, and report on cost savings, this  reporting capability is not being leveraged consistently across the federal  agencies to manage their travel costs. Agencies’ abilities to customize their reporting options without also  meeting standard reporting requirements hinder GSA’s ability to establish  a common metric for tracking and monitoring federal travel spending. Conclusions

The six selected agencies that accounted for more than three-quarters of  federal travel dollars (Agriculture, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice,  State, and Veterans Affairs) did pursue a variety of efforts aimed at  reducing travel costs that generally aligned with GSA’s amendments to  the FTR and travel bulletins. However, these agencies generally lacked  data to track these efforts. GSA created the STOC to identify efficiencies and discuss practices for  achieving travel cost savings. Recommendations for Executive Action

The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the STOC,  should develop a travel data management approach, including common  reporting formats that would provide GSA with more consistent travel cost  data allowing GSA to compare travel costs across federal agencies. The Administrator of GSA, as chair of the STOC, should work with the  STOC to identify promising opportunities and implement leading practices  to help agencies leverage their travel resources and implement travel  cost-saving efforts. Appendix I: Travel Cost-Saving Provisions Contained in Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) Amendments and General Services Administration (GSA) Travel Bulletins Issued between Fiscal Years 2011 and 2015

	FTR Amendments Lodging Reimbursement

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Why GAO Did This Study

Federal agencies rely on travel to achieve a broad range of missions. GSA helps agencies develop travel policy by providing guidance to agencies, including issuing and revising the FTR. The administration and GSA have encouraged agencies to take steps to adopt cost-savings efforts and promote efficient travel spending.
House Report 112-136 included a provision for GAO to report on whether FTR revisions resulted in measurable reductions in travel costs. This report: 1) describes selected agencies' actions taken to address FTR revisions; 2) determines the extent to which FTR revisions led to cost savings; and 3) determines any cost savings achieved during fiscal years 2012 to 2015. GAO reviewed information from six selected federal agencies with the largest amount of travel spending in fiscal year 2015. GAO also reviewed how these agencies responded to GSA's FTR amendments and travel bulletins to achieve cost savings.

What GAO Found

The Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and Veterans Affairs, the six federal agencies with the largest travel spending in fiscal year 2015, pursued a variety of cost-saving efforts that generally aligned with regulations and guidance issued in either Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) amendments or General Services Administration (GSA) travel bulletins from fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2015. GSA administers and revises the FTR—which interprets statutory and other policy requirements to ensure that official travel is conducted responsibly—and minimizes administrative costs. Although GSA does not have the authority to enforce the FTR, it issues FTR amendments and travel bulletins to help federal agencies manage their respective travel programs and achieve travel cost savings through the provisions contained in the amendments and travel bulletins. GSA FTR amendments and travel bulletins issued between fiscal years 2011 and 2015 contained a total of 27 cost-saving provisions. Agency officials at each of the six selected agencies stated that their respective agencies either had policies in place that already addressed the cost-saving provisions; developed new travel policies or issued guidance that reinforced the provisions or updated existing policies related to the provisions; or advised employees to follow the FTR without implementing an agency-specific policy.
The six agencies reported that GSA's review of the FTR to revise obsolete and outdated policies influenced their actions and resulted in cost savings. However, most of these savings could not be quantified. Only four cost-saving efforts at two agencies—the Departments of Defense and Justice—could be quantified. These agencies reported that a wide range of factors influenced their cost-saving efforts. In addition to FTR-compliance efforts, these agencies reported that administration actions on reducing travel costs, cutting waste, and promoting efficient spending influenced their approaches to managing travel costs. Agency officials also reported that broader efforts to improve operational efficiency, and efforts to responsibly use resources, also influenced their agency-specific policies and practices to promote efficient travel spending.
According to GSA and officials from the six selected agencies, data limitations existed both within the selected agencies in terms of their ability to quantify travel-related cost savings, and government-wide in terms of comparing and aggregating travel data across agencies. Without standardized reporting practices, the federal government lacks common metrics for identifying, comparing and evaluating travel spending across federal agencies. The Senior Travel Official Council (STOC) was formed in 2015 to identify efficiencies and discuss best practices related to travel cost savings. According to its charter, the STOC allows agencies to work toward more consistent reporting of travel data and share information on cost-saving efforts. Although the STOC has taken some initial action to bring agencies together, additional efforts to facilitate agencies' information sharing and identification of promising practices could further enhance these efforts to encourage and achieve travel cost-saving across the federal government.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the Administrator of GSA should work with the STOC to: 1) develop a travel data management approach that would provide GSA with more consistent travel cost data; and 2) as chair of the STOC, identify and implement promising practices to help agencies leverage travel resources and achieve cost savings.