March 2002

Dear DOT Colleagues:

I am pleased to present the U.S. Department of Transportation’s fiscal year 2003 Performance Plan combined with the Department’s fiscal year 2001 Performance Report.

Text Box: Our top priorities at DOT are to guarantee the safety and security of the traveling public.  We have an enviable transportation safety record in the United States.  However, the tragic events of September 11th have compelled us to consider transportation security in a new way, in unison with an unrelenting focus on safety.  We must constantly seek ways to reduce the inherent risks that transportation poses to the safety of the American people.

Transportation is also vital to improve our national well being, whether measured as economic growth, international competitiveness, or quality of life.  However, congestion and delays in transportation burden businesses and individuals with inefficiency and higher costs.  We have to continue to find ways to lighten that load.

President Bush and I take pride in what the U.S. Department of Transportation plans to achieve in fiscal year 2003 with the resources proposed in the President’s Budget.  DOT’s fiscal year 2003 Performance Plan contains aggressive goals to address our key transportation priorities:  increase transportation safety; protect the homeland; enhance mobility for all Americans; support the Nation’s economic growth; and protect the Nation’s environment.

I am also committed to fulfilling the President’s management agenda.  The primary goals in this plan focus on broad outcomes.  Behind each of these outcomes, the DOT operating administrations have developed detailed and output-oriented performance goals and tie those goals to performance accountability agreements.  The result: performance goals that match Departmental priorities – especially in resource decisions – and clear lines of accountability for meeting those performance goals.

DOT has made excellent progress towards meeting these priorities.  In 2001, the Department met 57 percent of its performance measures.  We are committed to improving this level of performance, and to do so, we must constantly search for ways to improve our results.

I look forward to working with you to meet that challenge in the year ahead.

                                                   Norman Y. Mineta

                                                   Secretary of Transportation