U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

2006 Presidential Award for Management Excellence

Department of Transportation

Budget and Performance Integration
Governmentwide Management Initiative

The mission of the Department of Transportation is to “Serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhance the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future.”  The efficient transportation of goods by air, rail, road, waterway and pipeline is essential to the American way of life.  The Department fosters this mission and allows the growth of our mobile society and economy.

Under the Budget and Performance Integration initiative of the President’s Management Agenda, the ability to present and use performance information to make critical funding decisions is a keystone.

The Department of Transportation is a leader among Federal agencies in developing and applying “end-results” performance measures.  This data allows the Department to assess the application of financial investments and policy changes—and how these would impact safety, economic activity and the surrounding environment.  These measures are linked to the Department’s strategic objectives and cascaded down through the organizational layers.  The Department’s Performance Budget applies the strategic objectives and provides a direct connection between the budget request and the expected results.

By using marginal cost of performance information to better understand what results can be achieved at different levels of funding, the Department has been a leader in integrating data into performance budgets.  Since establishing a pilot in 2004, the operating components of the Department routinely include marginal cost of performance information in their budget submissions to Congress.   

In its FY 2005 Annual Performance Report Scorecard, the George Mason University  Mercatus Center said of the Department of Transportation, “…the department’s performance metrics are almost exclusively results-oriented, probably more so than any other department or agency.  Thus, they serve the department well in demonstrating that its actions have made significant contributions.”