PERFORMANCE REPORT

PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK

INTRODUCTION

The Department of Transportation’s overarching mission is:

The National objectives of general welfare, economic growth and stability, and the security of the United States require the development of transportation policies and programs that contribute to providing fast, efficient, and convenient transportation at the lowest cost consistent with those and other National objectives, including the efficient use and conservation of the resources of the United States.

Everything we do at DOT is aimed toward meeting this mission statement and making measurable improvements in our transportation system, the security of our Nation, and the quality of American life. In the Performance and Accountability Report we hold ourselves accountable to the public for effectively bringing to bear the Department’s energy and resources in improving the Nation’s transportation system. We use these results to improve our strategies and resource decisions.

DOT’s performance framework is as follows:

• The DOT Strategic Plan provides a comprehensive vision for improving the Nation’s complex and vital transportation system. DOT’s 2003 – 2008 Strategic Plan outlines five strategic goals in the areas of safety, mobility, global connectivity, security and environmental stewardship that articulate the longer term focus of the Department. In addition to the broad objectives, the plan targets specific outcomes we want to achieve and identifies key challenges.
• The DOT Performance Budget operationalizes the Strategic Plan, and provides direct linkages between DOT’s budget request and the results the public can expect from programs within each of our Operating Administrations. The performance budget defines the performance goals and measures used to manage progress toward our strategic goals. It describes in detail one fiscal year’s resources and programmatic effort within a strategic context. The performance budget also aligns each dollar requested to one of our strategic goals.
• This DOT Performance and Accountability Report provides a public accounting of our FY 2006 performance results.

Performance accountability for DOT organizations, executives, and employees embed the philosophy of managing for performance into the Department’s culture and daily practices. Performance accountability within the Department is accomplished through the following mechanisms:

• Organizational Accountability Contracts—Prepared at the beginning of each fiscal year, these agreements between the Secretary of Transportation and each modal Administrator document expected levels of organizational performance for the upcoming year.
• DOT Organizational Assessments of Performance—A review of each Operating Administration’s performance is done at the end of the fiscal year to assess the organization’s success in the following areas: meeting Department-wide performance targets; results of Office of Management and Budget Program Assessments using the Program Assessment Rating Tool; President’s Management Agenda initiative ratings; and efforts associated with addressing any management challenges or material weaknesses identified by DOT’s Office of Inspector General. The results of these assessments are then factored into the personal performance evaluations of our senior executives.
• Employee Performance Plans—Prepared early in the fiscal year, these plans document expected levels of employee performance that clearly link to our strategic goals through the performance framework.

The following graphic describes how DOT plans, measures, manages, and reports on performance:

How DOT Works to Achieve Its Strategic and Performance Goals

The Department achieves its goals through its leadership role in U.S. transportation policy, operations, investment, and research. To influence results, DOT programs rely on a number of common interventions and actions. These include:

• Direct operations and investment in DOT capital assets that provide capability, such as air traffic control and the Saint Lawrence Seaway operations;
• Infrastructure investments and other grants, such as investment in highway, rail, transit, airport, and Amtrak capital infrastructure, and grants for safety, job access, or other important transportation programs;
• Innovative financial tools and credit programs, such as those provided for by the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, and the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program;
• Rulemaking, in areas such as equipment, vehicle, or operator standards; for improving safety; and for fostering competition in the transportation sector of the U.S. economy;
• State/local organizational capacity building, through training, best practices, peer-to-peer exchanges and other activities that strengthen the capability of State Departments of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and local governments to play their essential front-line role in planning, investing in, and operating highway and transit systems;
• Enforcement to ensure compliance, including inspections, investigations, and penalty action;
• Research and technology development and application, such as fostering new materials and technologies in transportation, and transportation related research;
• Education and outreach, such as consumer awareness, and campaigns to influence personal behavior; and,
• Public Information, such as that provided by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and each DOT Operating Administration, so that States, localities, regions, and private sector entities can better plan their activities.

Some of these interventions and actions reside entirely within the Federal Government, but most involve significant partnering with State and local authorities and with the transportation industry. These are the broad areas of action that DOT—and State and local governments— commonly use to bring about desired results.

PERFORMANCE REPORT

Our FY 2006 Results: A Reader’s Guide

The performance section of this report is composed of chapters for each strategic goal identified in the DOT Strategic Plan. The Organizational Excellence section of the report focuses on overall DOT efforts to achieve our part of the President’s Management Agenda, ensuring that we are a citizen-centered, results-oriented Cabinet agency, depending on market-based transportation solutions.

For each strategic goal, we present four increasingly detailed levels of information, which together help the reader understand the breadth of the Department’s activities.

• The first level, which consists of the strategic goal, strategic outcome, and annual resources, provides a summary-level view of how the Department is engaged in a national priority like transportation mobility;
• The second level, the performance goal and annual resources dedicated to the performance goal, focuses on a particular aspect of the priority being discussed;
• The performance measure, at the third level, shows the reader how we measure our progress toward the performance goal, the target we set for ourselves, and our success in reaching it; and,
• The narrative in the fourth level provides the reader details about our accomplishments or the challenges we faced, along with a forecast of our ability to meet the next year’s target.

This graphic shows the different levels of information and how they are presented.

The relationship between DOT’s activities and observed results—The relationship between resources and results can be complex, and a mix of current and prior-year resources and activity almost always influences any performance result. For example, direct service program results such as FAA air traffic control operations are influenced both by external forces and prior-year acquisition activities. Other results, such as highway congestion or transit ridership, are predominately influenced by prior-year funding.

Data completeness—An exhaustive assessment of the completeness and reliability of our performance data and detailed information on the source, scope, and limitations for the performance data in this report are provided at: http://www.bts.gov/programs/statistical policy and research/source and accuracy compendium/index.html. In that Web site, we also provide information to resolve the inadequacies that exist in our performance data.

Preliminary vs. final results—Reporting FY 2006 results by November 2006 has been challenging where we rely on third party reporting. Often we have only preliminary or estimated results based on partial-year data and must wait for final data to properly verify and validate our results. In some cases where data is provided solely as an annual value and is not available in time for this report, we rely on historical trend information and program expertise to generate a projected result. We have been careful to point out where we have assessed our performance on a preliminary or projected basis. Preliminary estimates or projected results will be adjusted after final compilation or verification and validation. In all cases where results have changed from last year’s report, we indicate that by placing an (r) with the number, indicating a revision.

DOT contributions to common governmental outcomes—DOT’s performance is aligned with its legislative mandates, but in some cases there are no “bright lines” separating DOT from other agencies. For instance, in DOT’s Security Strategic Goal, we make very important contributions in accordance with our mandates and appropriations, but we do so alongside the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, Justice, Commerce, and Energy. Similarly, other agencies make significant contributions to the Nation’s transportation system.

Management challenges—The DOT Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office publish reports describing a number of problems and challenges facing the Department. We take these issues seriously, and have folded our approach to meeting these challenges into our general efforts to achieve good performance outcomes. We have placed a description of each management challenge and the Department’s response in Management’s Discussion and Analysis near the front of this report.

Summary performance table—One of the ways that DOT interprets its progress towards achieving its strategic goals is to compare single year results to historical trends. We have provided a tabular summary of long-term performance for each of the Strategic Goals to provide context for the FY 2006 achievements.

SUMMARY PERFORMANCE TABLES

(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate; # Projection

Met; Not Met

Mobility Performance Summary

(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate; # Projection

ADA — Americans with Disabilities Act; Met; Not Met

¹ Starting in FY 2005, measure was redefined to measure “good” rated pavement versus “acceptable” rated pavement. Results for FY 2000 through FY 2004 have been adjusted accordingly.

² Starting in FY 2006, the administration of FTA’s JARC program changed from a separate nationally-administered competitive program into a state-administered formula program as enacted in SAFETEA-LU.

Global Connectivity Performance Summary

(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate; Met; Not Met

Environmental Stewardship Performance Summary

(r) Revised; * Preliminary estimate; # Projection from trends; Met; Not Met

Security Performance Summary

Met; Not Met

Organizational Excellence Performance Summary

(r) Revised; Met; Not Met

^{1 & 2} These measures were combined in FY 2004 to include both cost goals and schedule milestones