PERFORMANCE REPORT

PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK

Introduction

The Department of Transportation's overarching mission is:

To develop and administer policies and programs that contribute to providing fast, safe, efficient, and convenient transportation at the lowest cost consistent with the national objectives of general welfare, economic growth and stability, the national security, and 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 2006-2011 Strategic Plan outlines five strategic objectives in the areas of safety, reduced congestion, global connectivity, environmental stewardship, and security 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 for programs within each of our Operating Administrations. The performance budget defines the performance goals and measures used to manage progress toward our strategic objectives. 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 objectives.
This DOT Performance and Accountability Report provides a public accounting of our FY 2008 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 objectives through the performance framework.

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

Blue, six level pyramid shape with text to the left.

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.

READER'S GUIDE TO DOT'S PERFORMANCE REPORT

The performance section of this report is composed of chapters for each strategic goal identified in the DOT Strategic Plan. 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.

1. Strategic Goals: Describes the Strategic Goals and Strategic Outcomes and how the Department is engaged in a national priority like transportation safety.
2. Performance Areas: Focuses on particular aspects of the priority outcomes in more manageable pieces through key performance areas.
3. Performance Measures: Shows the reader how we measure our progress toward the performance objective, the target we set for ourselves, and our success in reaching it.
4. Performance Narrative: Provides the reader additional details about our accomplishments or the challenges we faced, along with a forecast of our ability to meet the next year's target.

Figure 2 shows the different levels of information and how they are presented.

Figure 2

Global Connectivity Strategic Goal, Level 1, image 1 of 4

Global Connectivity Strategic Goal, Level 2, image 2 of 4

Global Connectivity Strategic Goal, Level 3, image 3 of 4

Global Connectivity Strategic Goal, Level 4, image 4 of 4

Level 1: Strategic Goals and Outcomes

In September 2006, DOT published its new Strategic Plan for FY 2006-2011. This Performance and Accountability Report is the first year that we are fully reporting against the goals and outcomes set forth in that plan.

Relationships between strategic goals - Very frequently programs and initiatives that are aligned with a particular strategic goals and outcomes also contribute to related goals and outcomes. This is a desirable trait that reinforces our efficient use of resources across the Department to address multiple transportation challenges with multi-faceted programs that do more than one thing.

Strategic Goal - a statement from the DOT Strategic Plan, outlining the desired long-term end-state.

Strategic Outcome - a statement from the DOT Strategic Plan, outlining nearer-term sub-sets of the goal.

Level 2: Performance Areas

The report focuses on key performance areas in ways that are meaningful both to DOT programs and the public rather than following a limiting line-by-line reporting of all Dot activities. This way the reader gets a much better view of the Department's areas of concentration.

Resource Allocation - We provide a subtotal of Departmental resources that are applied to the pursuit of each set of performance objectives in order to show the level of investment made based on budget plans. We are not yet able to provide data from our cost accounting system on actual funds expended by performance area, so the associated funds identified for each area reflect the Department's planned spending. While the financial information provided is not an accounting report of funds expended, it does give the reader an overall picture of how the Department uses its appropriations. We look forward to implementing future improvements to our cost accounting system allowing us to provide even more detail in the years to come.

Performance Area - a performance objective, connecting effects created by departmental activities and programs, and the resulting influence on strategic outcomes.

Level 3: Performance Measures

Summary performance information - 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 in the pages that follow providing 7 years worth of performance information.

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 website, we also provide information to resolve the inadequacies that exist in our performance data.

Preliminary vs. final results - Reporting just 2 months after the close of the fiscal year is 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.

Performance Measure - a measurable indicator of progress toward a performance goal, with annual targets.

Level 4: Performance Narrative

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.

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.