[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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