Home / Open /

Open Government Plan - Chapter 4Share your idea

DOT-Specific Open Government Initiatives

This chapter describes the DOT’s Open Government initiatives, designed to enhance openness and collaboration in mission areas.  The DOT’s flagship initiative is the “Regulation Room.”  It is a pilot project in partnership with the Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative (CeRI) to discover the best ways of using Web 2.0 and social networking technologies to further rulemaking efforts.  This project is the first of its kind anywhere in Federal rulemaking and DOT hopes that it will help identify ways to make it easier for everyone to comment on regulatory topics that impact their lives, such as distracted driving or being bumped from an oversold airline flight.  The goal is to increase public understanding of proposed rules and the rulemaking process and encourage more effective public input and collaboration.  In addition, this chapter includes proposals for new feedback mechanisms and collaboration platforms designed to increase interaction and communication between the DOT and citizens.  Finally, this chapter describes several Open Government related initiatives that are underway to enhance transparency.

Section 4.1:  Flagship Initiative:  Regulation Room

Section 4.2:  Proposals for New Feedback Mechanisms

Section 4.3:  Proposals for New Collaboration Platforms

Section 4.4:  Other Open Government Related Initiatives

Section 4.1:  Flagship Initiative:  Regulation Room

To support the President’s Open Government initiative, the DOT has partnered with CeRI in a pilot project, Regulation Room, to discover the best ways of using Web 2.0 and social networking technologies to:

  • More effectively alert the public that rulemaking is occurring in areas of interest to them;
  • Increase public understanding of each proposed rule and the rulemaking process; and
  • Help the public formulate more effective individual and collaborative input to the DOT.

Over the course of several rulemaking proposals, CeRI will use different Web technologies and approaches to try to increase public understanding and participation regarding rulemaking, work with the DOT to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques, and report their findings and conclusions on the most effective use of Web 2.0 and social networking technologies in this area to the DOT and the public.

Figure 12 illustrates how CeRI encourages participation in rulemaking through the FMCSA proposed texting rule that began on March 31, 2010.

Figure 12:  Regulation Room Screen Shot

Figure 12: This is a screen shot of the webpage for www.regulationroom.org. It shows how the rulemaking dialogue looks in CeRI.

Section 4.1.1:  Background

The DOT’s work on this project began in the early days of the current Administration.  As a recognized Government leader in using the Internet to proactively inform the public on all aspects of its rulemakings, the DOT was asked to experiment with Web 2.0 tools as a way to increase public involvement and collaboration in the rulemaking process.  While the DOT was exploring internal options, CeRI approached the DOT with an idea to conduct a pilot project in e-Rulemaking that would do everything and more than we were considering doing internally.  Cornell University is widely respected for its work at the intersection of the Internet and the law.  This is evidenced by projects such as the Legal Information Institute, one of the first and still most widely used free sites for researching legal information.  Therefore, the DOT was eager to work with CeRI to benefit from the combined talents of both organizations.  The CeRI’s multi-disciplinary team contains law professors, social scientists, computer programmers, and trained facilitators to complement the DOT’s administrative law and transportation expertise.

Section 4.1.2:  How does the public normally get involved in the rulemaking process?

Currently, an agency issues its proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and may take such additional steps as issuing a press release and posting the document on its Web site.  The public then has notice of the proposal and can submit comments on it by uploading a document to Regulations.gov, mailing in a letter to the agency, or occasionally by attending a public meeting.  The design of this process results in a series of one-way communications, where the Government speaks to the public and then various members of the public speak back to the Government.  The process generally does not allow for a back-and-forth dialogue, nor does it allow the public an opportunity to respond to comments from others. 

Announcing CeRI on the Fast Lane Blog on March 31, 2010

“Proposing a new rule opens a 30-day period when we want to hear input from the public.  Typically, people submit their comments to the DOT docket at the Web site Regulations.gov.

But we have begun a groundbreaking partnership with Cornell University to make commenting on this proposed rule easier and more transparent with a new Web site, Regulation Room (http://www.regulationroom.org).  This new Cornell e-rulemaking initiative (CeRI) provides an online public participation environment where people can learn about and discuss proposed federal regulations and provide useful feedback to DOT.

With its interactivity, the Regulation Room is even more accessible and dynamic than Regulations.gov.

About the proposed rule itself, I want to point out that those who text while driving are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers.  FMCSA's research shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting.  At 55 miles per hour, 4.6 seconds is enough time to travel the length of an entire football field plus both end zones.

Now, imagine a truck or bus hurtling that distance at that speed with a driver whose attention is not on the road ahead.  I think you can see that there would be consequences.  Maybe not every time, but it only takes one time to do the kind of horrific damage I've been writing about on this blog and we've been talking about on Distraction.gov.”

Section 4.1.3:  How will this project engage the public differently from the normal rulemaking process?

  1. Outreach:  CeRI will attempt to reach the public where they are, rather than relying on them to come to the Government as the process currently requires.  So, in addition to attracting the “usual” participants that would comment when the DOT issues a proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, CeRI will also attempt to reach the vast majority of the public that does not read the Federal Register or routinely visit DOT Web sites.  CeRI will search for advocacy groups likely to be interested, blogs that deal with the subject matter area, relevant social networking pages, and any other online venues that can help to spread the word virally about the proposed regulation.
  1. Two-way communication:  The Regulation Room Web site will be set up to explain the rulemaking process to members of the public who may be unfamiliar with it and then to stimulate discussion on the proposed rule through regular blog postings on aspects on which the DOT is seeking input.  However, CeRI facilitators will also monitor the discussion and follow-up with commenters to make sure that supporting data is provided with comments, which greatly improves the worth of the information for the DOT.  Too often, we receive comments on proposals that have no supporting data, which makes them difficult to evaluate or rely on.
  1. Responding to others’ comments:  Regulation Room will openly show comments from everyone who chooses to participate.  Commenters will then be able to respond to each other, deepening discussion of the issue and hopefully leading to greater collaboration in reaching a consensus that could be useful for the DOT.
  1. Collaboration between commenters:  In order to have the discussion between commenters in Regulation Room help influence the rulemaking process, CeRI staff will prepare a summary of the discussion that will then be posted to the site for commenters to collaboratively edit prior to its final version being submitted to the DOT on behalf of the commenters.  Of course, those people who participated in Regulation Room are still free to file their own comments with the DOT as well.  The DOT will not participate in any activity on the Regulation Room Web site.

Section 4.1.4:  Which DOT strategic goals does this project support?

By investigating how to improve the quality and amount of data received from the public in response to rulemaking proposals, this project supports each and every one of the DOT’s primary strategic goals because rulemaking is such an integral part of all DOT operations.  This initiative also supports all the Government-specific goals and several objectives of the Open Government initiative, including:

  • Present in a clear manner DOT information about programs and objectives;
  • Maintain commitment to collecting and responding to public input on DOT policies and programs in innovative ways;  and
  • Enhance collaboration with other Federal agencies, the private sector, and other non-government organizations in providing mission-related services.

Section 4.1.5:  What types of proposed rules will be used in this pilot project?

For this project, the DOT and CeRI will concentrate on proposed rules that would impact large segments of the public, such as those dealing with distracted driving and consumer issues.

Section 4.1.6:  How are the three principles of Open Government supported by this project?

CeRI supports the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration as detailed in Table 4.

Table 4:  Regulation Room Support for Open Government Principles

Open Government Principle

Regulation Room Support

Transparency
  • Explores ways to make DOT information more accessible through graphics, videos, etc.; and
  • Investigates another potential way to reach the public and solicit their comments.

Participation
  • Reaches people who otherwise might not know about a proposed rule;
  • Engages the public in a less formal and intimidating way by going beyond traditional Government communication channels;
  • Uses facilitators to bring out more detailed and better-supported information from the public; and
  • Supports a new process that, with facilitation, may achieve consensus.

Collaboration
  • Demonstrates collaboration with the public and Cornell University;
  • Enables members of the public to collaborate with each other and with Cornell; and
  • Enables other Federal agencies to collaborate with the DOT and Cornell.

Section 4.1.7:  Other Project Partners

The DOT and Cornell have met with other Federal agencies including the DHS the U.S. Coast Guard, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the EPA, to solicit suggestions on how to improve the project and gauge interest in incorporating rulemakings from other agencies into the project. 

Section 4.1.8:  Measuring Project Success and Project Sustainability

As mentioned, this is a pilot project to test the viability of Web 2.0 tools and social networking technologies to put the Government in better touch with the public.  The end product of this project will be a publicly available report from CeRI on the value of this approach to increasing openness in Government, including lessons learned and any identified best practices.  This will ensure that every Government agency has the option to learn from the work done here and adopt this approach to further open its doors to the public.  Even where resources are not available to allow Government agencies to use this approach, interested members of the public could take the lessons learned from this project to use the same collaborative approach to involving others in developing better comments for submission to the Government.  The project also further refines a software platform built specifically for this project that Federal agencies could use in the future to facilitate public commenting on rulemakings and any other documents.

In evaluating the success of the project, Cornell and the DOT will take advantage of the following:

  • Evaluation of more than one rule, allowing the use of different outreach and collaboration techniques to best evaluate which is most effective;
  • The CeRI’s neutral objectivity in evaluating best practices and lessons learned;
  • Objective evaluation measures, such as site traffic, trends, and navigation behavior;
  • Subjective evaluation measures, such as the quality of submissions or data and the amount of consensus achieved in a particular summary; and
  • Possible American Bar Association evaluation and recommendations on the pilot project.

Section 4.2:  Proposals for New Feedback Mechanisms

The DOT has several proposals for new feedback mechanisms and technology platforms to increase public engagement and improve collaboration.  The DOT will continue to explore how open source software could provide economical and useful tools to its employees and its interactions with the public.  The following initiatives all support DOT Open Government efforts.  However, not all of these initiatives will be immediately pursued.  The DOT will prioritize initiatives based on our highest priority objectives.

Section 4.2.1:  Targeted Citizen Feedback Tool

As part of the Open Government Directive requirements, the DOT used the GSA’s IdeaScale online citizen engagement tool to solicit public feedback on the DOT’s Open Government Plan.  The DOT IdeaScale site (www.opendot.ideascale.com) asked the public to share ideas and comments on how the DOT could improve performance in the areas of transparency, participation, collaboration, and innovation.  Individuals also had the ability to vote for ideas they thought were important, flag ideas as off-topic,  and share ideas with other people via email or social media channels to help promote increased attention to topics they considered pressing.  The site was open for public comment from February 6 through March 19, 2010 for the purpose of collecting public feedback to consider during the development of our Open Government Plan, as detailed in Chapter 1.  The public can now review the ideas and comments that came in on the site and see how people voted. 
  
This initiative supported the following Open Government objective:  “Maintain commitment to collecting and responding to public input on DOT policies and programs in innovative ways.”

Section 4.2.2:  Public Feedback on Strategic Plans

The DOT is also pursuing using a brainstorming platform in 2010 to solicit public feedback on the DOT Strategic Plan, which outlines the Department’s goals and strategies for improving the U.S. transportation sector over the next five years.  The DOT will ask the public to share ideas and comments on policy goals and strategic initiatives.  Individuals will again be able to flag ideas as off-topic and share ideas with other people via email or social media channels to help promote increased attention to topics they consider important.   The DOT is committed to engaging the public during the development of crucial DOT plans in a transparent fashion, and will continue to promote the use of online tools to collect feedback and collaborate with citizens.   

This initiative supports the following Open Government objective:  “Maintain commitment to collecting and responding to public input on DOT policies and programs in innovative ways.”

Section 4.2.3:  Data.gov Rating System

The DOT is considering mechanisms to better collect feedback on the quality and perceived value of data released by the DOT.  The DOT is proposing two ways to collect this feedback on data value and data quality.

The first is to provide a formal recommendation to the Data.gov Project Management Officer (PMO) to expand their current “5-star” rating system from just allowing citizens to rate on data utility, usefulness, and ease of access to allowing citizens to rate data sets on data quality and data value.  Making this update to the Data.gov rating system would not only provide benefits to the DOT, but would allow for consistent ratings across the Federal Government. 

The DOT will also develop a feedback mechanism on our DOT site so that our stakeholders can more easily access and rate our data sets.  This will drive more ratings by the individuals used to coming to our Web site for transportation information.  The DOT would do this by encouraging the development of a Data.gov widget that would allow us to pull in the Data.gov look and feel to our Departmental Open Government Web site to display with our existing data sets.  This widget would pull in the 5-star rating system and the comment box for citizens to comment about the specific data sets.  Citizens would be able to vote on our data sets and provide comments in one central location, since not all DOT data is on Data.gov.

This initiative supports the following Open Government objective:  “Continue to release DOT data in a timely manner by proactively making it available online in consistent, open formats, while assuring accuracy and protecting privacy, security, and confidentiality.”

Section 4.2.4:  Supporting Aviation Consumer Protection

The DOT proposes to use on-line video to provide consumers and the flying public with “How To” videos on consumer protection topics such as how to fly safely, or flying with animals, etc.  It could provide another avenue of access to a wealth of information for the flying public that is currently on our Web site.

This initiative supports the following Open Government objective:  “Present in a clear manner DOT information about programs and objectives.”

Section 4.3:  Proposals for New Collaboration Platforms

The DOT has several proposals for new collaboration platforms to increase public engagement and improve collaboration.  The DOT will continue to explore how open-source software could provide economical and useful tools to our employees and their interactions with the public.  The following initiatives all support DOT Open Government efforts.  However, not all of these initiatives will be immediately pursued.  The DOT will prioritize initiatives based on our highest priority objectives.

Section 4.3.1:  Use of Internal and External Collaboration Platform and Social Networking

The DOT is exploring how we can increase internal collaboration by making better use of our existing internal collaboration tool and intranet (SharePoint).  There is potential for this platform to be used for knowledge management as well.  This will require increased employee training and awareness of site capabilities and features. 

The DOT will also explore employing an internal social networking capability, either in combination with the existing internal collaboration platform or in addition to the existing platform.  Connecting employees with one another will encourage the development of communities of interest around specific subject areas (e.g., data, enterprise architecture, performance measurement, project management).  These tools could better equip employees to problem solve and develop business transformation efforts organically.

Finally, DOT will also evaluate how we can increase external collaboration through an outward facing portal.  This would equip us to increase participation and collaboration with the public and our stakeholders.

This initiative supports the following Open Government objectives: 

  • Enhance collaboration with other Federal agencies, the private sector, and other non-government organizations in providing mission-related services; and
  • Encourage a cross-modal, interdisciplinary, collaborative and engaged workforce through improved communication, governance, and guidance regarding Open Government tools and programs.

Section 4.3.2:  Ideation

Another area the DOT will focus on is employing tools for internal ideation.  IdeaHub is an online community concept that has been led by the FAA that enables innovation and cross-organizational collaboration.  Employees can “build” ideas in a collaborative environment that provides a medium for great ideas to make it upstream to management.  Using IdeaHub (or other tools like it), we can empower employees to develop, rate, and improve innovative ideas for programs, processes, and technologies.

The overall goal for using a collaborative process is to leverage our employees’ ideas and to increase communication channels, to help DOT organizations to accomplish their mission, and to help make the DOT be a great place to work.  The IdeaHub program is one way that we can enable employees to participate in changing their workplace and to have an active, visible role in improving the organization.

IdeaHub empowers all employees to contribute directly to the entire community.  Employees can:

  • Build a new idea;
  • Participate in conversations about their idea and the ideas of others;
  • Read the most recent comments and ideas posted;
  • Rate other employees ideas; and
  • See the best ideas acted upon in a transparent and open forum.

The DOT is currently exploring options for DOT-wide internal ideation.  This initiative supports the following Open Government objective:  “Encourage a cross-modal, interdisciplinary, collaborative, and engaged workforce through enhanced communication, governance, and guidance regarding Open Government tools and programs.”

Section 4.3.3:  Secure Video Teleconferencing and Web Conferencing

Another mechanism the DOT will continue to use in a cost efficient manner is inviting collaboration with internal and external stakeholders through secure Web conferencing and video teleconferencing.  With current Internet technologies, it is important that the DOT be a partner with the public in using these forms of communications channels to invite participation in the DOT decision-making process.  In order to achieve this, it is important that the DOT explore expanding the capability in a robust and secure manner.  The DOT will consider how to ensure that external outreach to stakeholders is segregated from regular DOT networks, enabling a direct digital channel to the public.

This initiative supports the following Open Government objective:  “Enhance collaboration with other Federal agencies, the private sector, and other non-government organizations in providing mission-related services.”

Section 4.4:  Other Open Government Related Initiatives

In addition to the previous initiatives, the DOT will consider piloting a new Web site to display maps illustrating DOT data, compile a Web 2.0 Business Service Catalog and conduct a redesign of its public Web site, DOT.gov.  The topical data visualization pilot will explore how DOT can best contextualize its mission related data to provide a useful interface for the public.  The Web 2.0 catalog will list services in the style of an applications store.  The goal is to enhance transparency and participation with its service offerings.  The update to the DOT’s public Web site will implement Web 2.0 tools to increase collaboration.

Section 4.4.1:  VisualDOT Web Site to Display Maps Illustrating DOT Data

The DOT is developing a Web-based rich media tool called visualDOT. It will allow transportation-related data to be visualized geographically and contextualized in relation to DOT priorities.  The capability of this powerful visualization tool to display complex data "mash-ups" and dynamic presentation techniques is expected to motivate DOT programs to collect and share data in ways previously considered overly complex.

The Web site will use multiple sets of data initially in order to design, develop, test and refine the platform.  However, DOT is envisioning a tool that is scalable and rich in capability.  The tool will ultimately be capable of expanding the number of data sets and will potentially integrate authoritative, relevant data from partners from across the Federal, state, and local Government landscape.  This tool takes data availability a step further by providing a mechanism to contextualize data with respect to DOT mission priorities.

This platform will advance specific DOT objectives by presenting in a clear manner DOT information about programs and objectives.

Section 4.4.2:  Web 2.0 Business Service Catalog

As part of the ongoing DOT IT Business Services Catalog initiative, Web 2.0 tools could be a subset of services offered alongside other internal services such as desktop technical support.  The initiative’s concept is to display services in a similar look and feel as GSA’s Apps.gov, complete with shopping cart and order fulfillment status.  For those services not yet approved for use, they could be listed as future services with an expected availability date.  This is an internal initiative for the DOT.

Figure 13:  Apps.gov Screen Shot

Figure 13: This is a screen shot of www.apps.gov that shows what a business service catalog could look like for open government services at DOT.

Implementation of the DOT IT Business Services Catalog will not only create transparency in what the DOT does by displaying its service offerings, but also will create a participatory environment by which employees better utilize the DOT’s capabilities. 

This initiative supports the following Open Government objectives:

  • Present in a clear manner DOT information about programs and objectives; and
  • Continue to release DOT data in a timely manner by proactively making it available online in consistent, open formats, while assuring accuracy and protecting privacy, security, and confidentiality.

Section 4.4.3:  DOT Web site Re-design

The DOT has a wide range of stakeholders.  The diversity of these stakeholders drives the need for a “best in class” Web site that is both dynamic and easily managed.  The DOT’s public facing Web page must be able to provide relevant information to other Government agencies, private sector businesses, and independent citizens.  At the same time, the DOT’s intranet must be able to supply vital information to employees, communicate throughout intradepartmental OAs.  The DOT will update its Web presence by April 2011.

To meet those goals, the DOT’s Web presence will align with and bring utility to the achievement of the Department’s strategic goals.  To align with the principles of Open Government, the DOT’s updated Web presence will also strategically use crowd-sourcing tools, smart-phone applications, Facebook, Twitter, and other Web 2.0 mediums through multi-media pages. 

An important step in enabling Web 2.0 tools to provide strategic utility to the Department is to ensure users see www.dot.gov as a valuable source of information.  Users must have confidence in the quality, timeliness, and usability of the material on the DOT’s Web site, and the content available must be current, functionally intuitive, and bring utility to the public’s own missions or interests.

It is important to note that site loyalty is created by providing benefit to those using the implemented Web technologies.  Users must feel inspired for critical thought through the creation of an informative and engaging experience while on www.dot.gov.  This can be achieved by properly delivering everything from the visual uniformity of Web pages or tools, to stating the significance of specific data or tools and tying them back to the DOT’s vision and mission.  Implementing an intuitive Web solution that conveys the impact and significance of user feedback on the DOT’s mission will help create stakeholder buy-in and create the site loyalty and openness that the DOT seeks to achieve.

In return, the DOT will benefit from the insight of crowd-wisdom through the public’s continuous and repeated interaction with its public facing tools, applications, data, and other Web 2.0 mediums.  The DOT must utilize this to its advantage in order to effectively capture the thought processes of tomorrow through its Web presence.

This initiative supports the following Open Government objectives:

  • Present in a clear manner DOT information about programs and objectives; and
  • Continue to release DOT data in a timely manner by proactively making it available online in consistent, open formats, while assuring accuracy and protecting privacy, security, and confidentiality.

Web Policies & Notices  | Accessibility | FOIA | Privacy Policy | No Fear Act | Small Business | Ethics | OIG | OIG Hotline | Regulations | Information Quality | USA.gov | WhiteHouse.gov

U.S. Department of Transportation | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000