Restructuring of the District of Columbia Department of Public Works'
Division of Transportation (Correspondence, 03/16/2001, GAO/GAO-01-347R).

To handle staffing shortages and increased workloads, states and other
engineering and construction organizations have been relying more on
contractors to perform functions that were previously done in-house.
This trend was reflected in two state highway departments, identified by
the Federal Highway Administration, that GAO visited. Both Arizona and
South Carolina were relying extensively on consulting engineers to
handle major portions of their workloads. Two recent studies also
identified ways in which organizations acquiring design and construction
services have dealt with staffing shortages and increased workloads.
These include team building, partnering, and involving all stakeholders
in the early stages of a project's development and in design review
activities throughout the project. The acting Director of the District
of Columbia's Department of Public Works, Division of Transportation
(DDOT) has started to reorganize DDOT to improve performance.
Specifically, he has developed plans to increase the use of contractors
to supplement DDOT's staff and has established cooperative relationships
with other governmental agencies by adopting strategies and best
practices that others have found to be effective. The Director also
plans to reorganize staff into four project teams that will have all the
disciplines necessary to be responsible and accountable for assigned
projects from beginning to end. Since the reorganization is just
beginning, it is too early to tell whether it will be successful.
However, both Arizona and South Carolina have adopted these ways to
improve their situations.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  GAO-01-347R
     TITLE:  Restructuring of the District of Columbia Department of
	     Public Works' Division of Transportation
      DATE:  03/16/2001
   SUBJECT:  Human resources utilization
	     Labor supply
	     Privatization
	     Reengineering (management)
	     Private sector practices
IDENTIFIER:  FHwA Federal-Aid Highway Program
	     South Carolina
	     Arizona
	     District of Columbia