[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 13, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31179-31181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14462]



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[[Page 31180]]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


National Transportation System (NTS) Initiative: Refinements to 
the Development Process

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of refinements in the development of the NTS.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation is modifying the process 
through which the NTS initiative will be developed and the proposed 
products of that process. These refinements are in response to the 
Department's extensive public outreach and comments to the docket last 
fall.

DATES: Comments on the refinements are welcomed. To be most useful, 
comments on these issues should be submitted no later than July 31, 
1995.

ADDRESSES: Three copies of comments for the public docket on the NTS 
should be sent to: Office of the Secretary, Documentary Services 
Division, C-55, Attn: NTS Public Docket #49617, Room PL 401, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions on the NTS initiative also 
can be directed to the Departmental Offices designated as leads for the 
NTS outreach and planning initiatives:

Mr. Michael P. Huerta, Associate Deputy Secretary, Room 10200, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, Phone: (202) 366-5781.
Mr. Frank Kruesi, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Room 
10228, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, Phone: (202) 366-
4450.
Mr. Stephen Palmer, Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs, Room 
10408, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, Phone: (202) 366-
4573.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 9, 1993, Secretary of 
Transportation Federico Pena invited Congress, other Federal agencies, 
state and local officials, private businesses and citizen groups to 
participate in the development of the National Transportation System 
initiative. Officials from the Department of Transportation spent the 
next several months meeting with individuals and groups noted above to 
discuss all aspects of the NTS.
    The Federal Register Notice laying out the basic concept and 
framework for the NTS was published on June 23, 1994 (59 FR 32481). A 
supplemental Notice on the proposed process and criteria for 
designating the NTS was published in the Federal Register on August 24, 
1994 (59 FR 43610). The Department received over 350 comments to the 
docket. In addition to soliciting public comments on the NTS concept 
through Federal Register notices, the Department received input from 
meetings held in Washington, DC, and around the country, that were 
attended by representatives of transportation interest groups, state 
and local agencies, and the private sector.
    The key purposes of the NTS initiative were to conduct a dialogue 
with our customers and partners on the future of Federal transportation 
policy, improve transportation investment decisions, make DOT policy 
and programs more outcome-oriented and less modally driven, and draw 
attention to the state of the national transportation system and its 
implications for other goals.

Interim Results of the NTS Outreach

    A number of strong and recurrent themes emerged from the outreach 
process. Across the spectrum of users, operators and interest groups, 
there is strong support for the NTS concept of an integrated, 
multimodal transportation system. These groups and individuals 
recognize the need to shift from looking at single mode solutions 
toward an intermodal, customer-oriented approach that looks at results 
in terms of mobility, congestion, and a variety of economic, social and 
environmental impacts.
    There was consensus that the focus of the NTS should be on 
developing a better understanding of transportation demands and 
constraints and their implications for attaining national social, 
economic and environmental goals which would help all levels of 
government identify impediments to the efficient functioning of the 
system. Many felt that the Federal Government--working closely with 
state and local governments, the transportation industry and interested 
members of the public--should set a strategic agenda for achieving 
progress on these various fronts. There was little support for 
identifying current, high volume facilities through a mapping process. 
Thus the Department does not plan to develop an NTS map.
    The outreach discussions and comments to the docket indicated 
widespread support for the NTS concept but recommended changes in the 
NTS evaluative framework to consider work being done at the state and 
local level and by the private sector. Recommended revisions to the 
initial NTS approach included giving more emphasis to building upon the 
planning processes required by the Intermodal Surface Transportation 
Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), developing the analytical capability to 
evaluate the performance of the system and developing performance 
measures to facilitate outcome-oriented, multimodal decisionmaking.
Refinements to the NTS: Products

    In response to these comments, the Department is refining the NTS 
to focus on the following three major products:
    1. Transportation Performance Measurement System: A recurring theme 
in the Department's outreach efforts to date has been that existing 
performance measures for the transportation system are incomplete. 
Specifically, we heard that there is a need for performance measures 
that consider more than simply traffic flows or transportation 
efficiency; they should consider effects on the economic, environmental 
and social outcomes which we, as a Nation, are pursuing.
    To respond, the Department will initiate a performance measurement 
effort. The purpose is to bring about a better understanding of how 
transportation performs as an integrated system in meeting national 
goals. We intend to develop specific examples of performance measures 
that consider the broader transportation impacts discussed above. These 
measures will be developed to illustrate cause and effect relationships 
between transportation decisions, the external demand factors that lead 
to them, and their broader impacts on the system overall.
    Data needed for this effort will be derived, for the most part, 
from existing state, local and national data collection efforts. This 
is to minimize any additional burdens on state and local governments. 
Where appropriate, we will also draw upon the state and local planning 
processes established by ISTEA.
    The emphasis of the Department's work will be on the national 
system. However, this effort also will provide an analytic base for 
future discussions with state and local officials about how national 
goals of the transportation system, performance objectives, and tools 
necessary for achieving these objectives are linked with state and 
local objectives.
    2. National and Regional Transportation Analytical Capability: A 
strategic analysis capability will be developed, using a national 
intermodal GIS database and performance measures, which could be used 
to [[Page 31181]] identify how the existing transportation system is 
performing, identify problems, and analyze implications of alternative 
national transportation policies. As initial activities, the Department 
expects to have some capability to undertake problem identification, 
define issues, and conduct tradeoff analysis within a year. The next 
steps will be to relate the transportation system to broader goals and 
other considerations such as economic activity, population trends, 
mobility issues and environmental measures, and to tie forecasting 
capability to transportation resource management and investment. This 
will begin to provide a framework for undertaking prospective policy 
and program tradeoff analysis. While intermediate products will begin 
to be available within the year, this work will require a significant 
investment and several years to complete.
    3. State of the Transportation System Report: A report will be 
completed early in 1996 that would summarize outreach findings and 
apply initial research, performance measurement, and system analytical 
capability to describe the functioning of the transportation system now 
and policy implications for the future. It will include a vision for 
the Nation's future transportation system, a discussion of the 
performance and evaluation process, a description of the condition of 
the national transportation system and its relationship to the national 
economy, and an analysis of the national transportation network.
    In developing these three products, the Department will continue 
its consultation with representatives of the public and private sectors 
to assure that the NTS is customer driven.

Public Outreach and Comment

    In its initial presentation of the NTS concept in the June 23, 
1994, Federal Register, the Department expressed its commitment to an 
incremental and evolving evaluation and goal-setting process for 
national transportation. It continues to be the Department's intent 
that the products resulting from this process will incorporate--and be 
improved by--input from the public and private sectors. Throughout the 
development of the NTS, the Department will continue to consult with 
state and local officials, at relevant meetings and conferences, and 
draw upon the products resulting from the metropolitan and statewide 
planning processes and management systems required by ISTEA.
    To ensure that the NTS products are relevant to public and private 
sector transportation decision makers and users, the Department would 
find advice and input on its revised course of action for the NTS 
useful.

    Issued this 6th day of June, 1995, in Washington, DC.
Michael P. Huerta,
Associate Deputy Secretary and Director, Office of Intermodalism.
[FR Doc. 95-14462 Filed 6-12-95; 8:45 am]
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